Europe death toll shoots past 30,000

MADRID: The coronavirus pandemic has claimed more than 30,000 lives in Europe alone, according to latest figures.

Italy and Spain bore the brunt of the crisis, accounting for three in every four deaths on the continent, as the grim tally hit another milestone even though half of the planet’s population is already under some form of lockdown in a battle to halt contagion.

Spain on Wednesday reported a record 864 deaths in 24 hours, pushing the country’s number of fatalities past 9,000, while the number of cases reached 102,136.

The toll is only dwarfed by Italy’s, where the virus has killed at least 13,155 people, with 727 deaths reported on Wednesday.

The number of new cases rose more sharply than a day earlier, growing by 4,782 against a previous 4,053, bringing total infections since the outbreak came to light on February 21 to 110,574.

Italian doctors and unions have warned that a government policy to send patients discharged from hospital but still positive for coronavirus to care homes is like priming “biological bombs”.

They have voiced serious concerns over the safety of the 300,000 or so residents in Italy’s 7,000 care homes as those unable to convalesce in isolation at home are being moved to care homes or requisitioned hotels.

The virus has already infiltrated assisted living facilities across the nation, in what is being dubbed the “silent massacre”.

Hundreds of people in care homes are feared to have succumbed to the disease - over 600 in the hard-hit Bergamo region alone, experts say.

Britain on Wednesday recorded its biggest day-on-day increase in coronavirus deaths, as the government came under renewed pressure to ramp up mass testing of frontline medical staff and the wider community.

The health ministry said 2,352 people had now died as of 1600 GMT on Tuesday - up 563 on the previous day.

The victims included a 13-yearold boy, thought to be the country’s youngest victim.

The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 climbed by 4,324 to 29,474 in the same period.

The country said it would soon begin testing 25,000 people daily for Covid-19 as criticism of the government grew over low numbers of testing compared to other countries.

Housing minister Robert Jenrick told Sky TV that it was targeting 25,000 daily tests by “midApril”.