MADRID, May 9 (NNN-XINHUA) – The Spanish health ministry, on Friday, confirmed a slight increase in the number of new deaths of COVID-19, while the number of new cases rose by over 1,000.
The death toll rose to 26,299, after 229 people lost their lives, in the 24-hour period until 21:00 hours local time on Thursday.
This is 16 more than the 213 deaths registered 24 hours earlier, but it signifies that Spain has now suffered fewer than 250 new deaths for each of the past six days.
However, a sharp increase in new cases was detected via PCR tests — which check if the virus is active in the body. The ministry reported 1,095 new infections — compared to 754 in the previous 24 hours, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 222,857.
Of the new cases, 543 were reported in Catalonia, while a further 148 were confirmed in Comunidad de Madrid.
The Catalan regional government has already confirmed that, it won’t ask for the region to advance to the second phase of the government’s 4-stage plan, to slowly ease the restrictions put in place on Mar 15, to stop the spread of the virus.– NNN-XINHUA
