SPANISH CASES SURGE BY 5,000 IN SINGLE NIGHT
SPAIN has recorded almost 5,000 new cases of coronavirus in 24 hours as it became the third most infected country in the world.
Health authorities said yesterday that virus infections had reached 24,926, up from 19,980 the day before.
Total deaths are at 1,326, up from 1,002 on Friday.
More than 1,600 patients are in intensive care units that authorities admit are at their limits. Madrid is the hardest hit region with almost 9,000 infections.
Spain is approaching one week of tight restrictions on free moment and the closure of most shops as hospitals and nursing homes buckle under the burden of the virus outbreak.
But authorities admit they expect infections to continue to rise before the measures can hopefully reverse the trend.
Only Italy and China – where the outbreak started – have seen more cases so far
Meanwhile in Germany, the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg is opening its hospitals to patients from the neighbouring region of eastern France that is struggling with a surge of infections.
A spokesman for the state’s health ministry confirmed governor Winfried Kretschmann has offered assistance to France amid a growing shortage of ICU beds there.
Authorities have asked all hospitals in Baden-Wuerttemberg with free capacity to take in French patients requiring ventilators.
The spokesman said that while the state’s own capacity is limited and there are already some bottlenecks, “we will naturally try to help our French neighbours”.
Elsewhere, three major American states are locking down their residents in the face of a rapidly-advancing virus storm that is already severely straining health systems in parts of Europe.
Workers install a field hospital for coronavirus patients in Madrid. The number of people confirmed to be infected in Spain has increased to at least 24,900, with 1,328 deaths
Officials in New York and Illinois announced they would largely restrict residents to their homes from this weekend, after California, America’s largest state, did so on Friday.
The three states have. a combined population of more than 70 million people.
With American hospitals already under pressure, officials are desperate to prevent - or at least limit - a repeat of what has happened in parts of China, Italy and Spain where the outbreak has overwhelmed medical services.
More than 275,000 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed globally, including more than 11,000 deaths, Nearly 90,000 patients have recovered.
The outbreak has moderated in Asia, but the concern there has now shifted to preventing its return. China and other parts of the region are now importing cases from Europe, the US and elsewhere.
China’s National Health Commission reported yesterday that the mainland had no new home-grown cases of the virus for the third day in a row, but there had been 41 imported ones in the previous 24 hours. That followed a surge in cases in Hong Kong on Friday, including 35 imported ones.