Foreign Affairs

More Than 700 People Died Overnight In Spain From Coronavirus

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A total of 738 people in Spain died from coronavirus-related illnesses in the past 24 hours, the largest increase in fatalities since the disease entered the country.

The number of COVID-19 deaths in Spain soared from 2,696 to 3,434 on Tuesday, according to the country’s health ministry. In total, Spain has registered 47,610 people who have tested positive for the virus — up from just 36,673 earlier on Tuesday.

Spain — which has a population of roughly 46 million — touts the second highest tally of coronavirus-related deaths in the world. Italy, which is reporting a death toll of 6,820, has experienced the most deaths so far.

China has registered slightly over 3,280 deaths since Wednesday morning, the third highest in the world, but the Chinese Communist Party has also faced accusations that it is not accurately reporting its total number of deaths or positive cases.

The Spanish government has ordered its citizens under lockdown. Spaniards are prohibited from leaving their homes, with the only exceptions being to leave for work, emergencies, or purchase food and medicine.

“Our measures are among the most drastic taken in the European Union,” Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa said Monday, according to The Wall Street Journal. He added that there are challenges with making citizens fully complaint with the order. “We know it’s tough but it is the only path to the defeat of the virus.”

Despite the dramatic steps taken to stop the spread of coronavirus, Spain is still watching cases spike across the country.

Madrid, Spain’s capital city, has been forced to convert an ice rink into a makeshift morgue in order to deal with the influx of dead bodies. Soldiers deployed to disinfect elderly nursing have, in some cases, discovered elderly residents completely abandoned and others left dead in their beds.