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World Europe

Coronavirus: Spain PM warns 'very hard days ahead' as virus toll tops 1,300

The number of infections across the country shot up to 24,926



Ambulances medical staff deliver a patient wearing protection masks at Cruces hospital, in Bilbao, northern Spain, Saturday, March 21, 2020.
Image Credit: AP

Madrid: Spain ramped up its battle against the coronavirus on Saturday, mobilising 52,000 additional health workers and racing to finish construction of field hospitals as its death toll jumped by a third.

"We must prepare ourselves emotionally and psychologically for very hard days ahead," Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told the nation in a televised address as Spain reported 1,326 more deaths, the second-highest in Europe after Italy.

The number of infections across the country also shot up to 24,926, the health ministry said in a statement, adding that the capital Madrid remains the hardest hit.

Foto Massimo Paolone/LaPresse 21 marzo 2020 Ferrara, Italia cronaca Emergenza Coronavirus - I convogli dell\'Esercito Italiano provenienti da Bergamo trasportano le salme dei deceduti per il Covid 19 verso il cimitero di Ferrara dove vengono cremate Nella foto: le salme vengono scaricate dal camion per la cremazione Photo Massimo Paolone/LaPresse March 21, 2020 Ferrara, Italy news Coronavirus emergency - The convoys of the Italian Army from Bergamo transport the bodies of the deceased for Covid 19 to the cemetery of Ferrara where they are cremated In the pic: the corpses are unloaded from the truck for cremation
Image Credit: AP

"The cases are rising and are going to continue to rise in the coming days," ministry spokeswoman Maria Jose Sierra told journalists, saying nobody knew when the outbreak in Spain would peak.

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Those who had died were mainly people over 70 and particularly the over-80s, she said.

"Nearly 70 per cent of patients placed in intensive care units are more than 60 years old," she added.

Nevertheless, between one and two per cent of those hospitalised were under 20 years old.

Authorities have called up 52,000 extra workers to help the country's health service as it struggles to contain the virus, including 14,000 retired doctors and nurses.

The new numbers follow a fresh spike in both deaths and infections on Friday.

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A police officers wearing protective face mask are seen near the St. Peter's Square, on the sixth day of an unprecedented lockdown across of all Italy imposed to slow the outbreak of coronavirus in Rome, Italy March 15, 2020. REUTERS/Alberto Lingria
Image Credit: Reuters

Spain has issued lockdown orders for some 46 million people who are only permitted to leave their homes for essential work, food shopping, medical reasons or to walk the dog.

Around 2,800 soldiers have been mobilised to disinfect train stations and airports and to bring help to elderly, vulnerable people, said General Miguel Villarroya, chief of the defence staff.

Madrid and Barcelona announced Friday they would set up field hospitals in their biggest exhibition halls to deal with the anticipated growth in the number of patients.

The IFEMA conference centre would be fitted with 5,500 hospital beds, part of it dedicated to an intensive care unit, while a section of the Fira de Barcelona centre would be similarly equipped, city authorities said.

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Officials have distributed hundreds of thousands of surgical masks, adapted hotels to treat the sick and produced hundreds of thousands of test kits.

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