Published 23:10 IST, March 17th 2020
Spain logs nearly 2,000 new Coronavirus cases in a day; total cases surpass 11,400
Madrid in Spain has been worst hit accounting for over 46 percent of the cases in the country; it has seen 72.3% of the total deaths reported in the country
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Spain has confirmed over 2000 new cases of the novel coronavirus within just 24 hours, spiking the total cases past 11,400 with 157 new fatalities, the country's health ministry has confirmed. Spain is the fourth worst-hit country after China, Italy, and Iran, with numbers soaring rapidly despite an unprecedented national lockdown.
At least 1,987 have been infected and few more suspected cases have emerged in the past 24 hours, Fernando Simon, the ministry’s immediate emergency coordinator, said. Spain has taken the drastic measure restricting the movement of the 46 million population to stem the further spread of the disease. The recoveries in the country, however, stood at approximately 1,028, Simon added, which constitutes 9 percent of the total cases.
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Madrid in Spain has been the worst-hit, accounting for over 46 percent of the cases in the country and has witnessed has seen 72.3 percent of the total deaths reported in Spain thus far, confirmed reports. Spain’s government has prepared to declare a state of alert over the rapid spread nationwide as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a statement that there will be a cabinet meeting to declare a state of alert for a period of 15 days, after which, the situation will be evaluated.
"Unfortunately we cannot rule out that over the next week we could reach more than 10,000 infections," PM Sanchez said. "The government would adopt a series of extraordinary measures in order to mobilize all the resources of the state to better protect the health of all of its citizens for both public and private resources, as well as civilian and military".
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"Several very tough weeks are ahead of us, Spain is only in the first phase of the fight against the virus. Victory depends on every single one of us. Heroism is also about washing your hands and staying at home”, he added.
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Planes turned around
Jet2, a British airliner, announced earlier that it was cancelling all flights to Spain with immediate effect, in response to Spanish measures to curb the spread of the malignant coronavirus. Planes from the UK bound for Spain turned around in mid-air as the decision came, as per the reports.
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(With inputs from agency)
23:10 IST, March 17th 2020