It’s another dark day for Spain with a total of 39,763 cases of coronavirus confirmed across the country.
Another 6,582 infections have been announced in the past 24 hours and the number of deaths has now reached 2,696.
The capital Madrid continues to be the epicentre of Spain’s pandemic, with 1,535 deaths. The north-east region of Catalonia is now also becoming a big cause for concern with 1,939 cases in the past day, higher than Madrid.
Health emergency chief Fernando Simón has stressed that almost 3,800 people have now recovered from the virus but 2,636 remain in intensive care.
“This is a tough week and we are all hoping to see if we are managing to reach the peak and start going down, with these very aggressive measures that have been imposed on Spain”.
Attention has also turned to the alarming rate of infection among health professionals. Of the 39,763 infected people around the country, 5,400 are healthcare staff – meaning they make up nearly 14% of those with the disease.
The government has asked MPs to extend the state of alert to 11 April.
