Spain reports fewer than 100 Covid-19 deaths per day for first time since March

Ellena Cruse17 May 2020

The death toll from Covid-19 in Spain fell below 100 for the first time in two months, the health ministry said on Sunday.

Total deaths from the virus rose by 87 to 27,650, while the number of confirmed cases edged up from 230,698 to 231,350.

Spain introduced one of Europe's strictest lockdowns on March 14 in a bid to contain coronavirus, which threatened to overwhelm the country's health service.

As the population has remained largely confined to their homes, the rate of new infections and fatalities has steadily fallen, prompting the government to begin unwinding the restrictions.

Health emergency chief Fernando Simon cautioned that the low death tally on Sunday could be due to delays in reporting at weekends.

Asked at a press conference if health authorities had sufficient resources to deal with current patient levels, he said: "The ministry is gathering reserves, but now there is enough material for current needs."

A doctor in Madrid also expressed concern that hospitals would not be able to cope if there was a second surge of the disease and added: "I have to say that we are not yet ready to face a second wave even if it is smaller."

As the government begins to lift restrictions on movement, authorities are considering extending mandatory mask use on public transport to cover all public spaces.

"There is an ample consensus that we should reinforce the obligatory use of masks," Health Minister Salvador Illa told a news conference.

From Monday, inhabitants of the sparsely populated Canary Islands of La Graciosa, El Hierro, and La Gomera, and Formentera in the Balearics, will be able to go for walks at any time of day.

However, in Madrid and Barcelona, which have been particularly badly hit, tougher restrictions will remain in place.

Protests have sprung up around the country in the past week, with disgruntled Spaniards airing their frustration at the government's handling of the crisis.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Saturday he would seek parliament's approval to extend the country's state of emergency until the end of June, when most regions should have returned to normality.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in