Spain surpasses China in coronavirus death toll

Spain has surpassed the number of deaths recorded in China as a result of the new coronavirus,with 3,434 fatalities since the outbreak began, 738 of them in the last 24 hours, according to data provided on Wednesday, 25, by the country's Ministry of Health.

Italy alone has a higher death balance than Spain, which has also seen the number of new cases diagnosed in one day increase by 20 percent, from 39,673 to 47,610, as authorities increase the ability to test their citizens. China, the country where the pandemic began, has so far recorded 3,281 deaths.

After a week and a half of almost total confinement for spaniards, which is expected to continue until April 11, the government warned that this week would be "difficult" but that it believes the country is close to peaking contagions.

Despite recording the highest number of deaths in a day in the country since the outbreak began, the Ministry of Health also announced a significant increase in the number of cured patients, from nearly 3,800 to 5,367.

More than half of deaths (53%) are concentrated in the Madrid region, the most affected by the epidemic in both deaths and diagnosed cases. There have been 290 deaths in the last 24 hours in the capital area.

Faced with the saturation of the health and funeral system, regional authorities have installed a field hospital in a convention center that can receive up to 5,500 beds and have prepared an ice rink to function as a morgue.

On Tuesday 24, the Spanish Armed Forces requested humanitarian assistance from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to combat the new coronavirus. The request is for 450,000 regular masks, 500,000 rapid tests, 500 ventilators for respiratory assistance and 1.5 million surgical masks.

The country has only 4,500 ICU beds. In comparison, Germany, for example, has 25,000 beds equipped with respirators.