Spain records highest single-day death toll
Spain is to deploy its armed forces to help transport the bodies of those killed by the coronavirus, the country’s health ministry said on Saturday, as the country recorded its highest single-day death toll.
The Spanish military would have to intervene due to an overwhelming number of dead and the lack of available funeral homes, according to a statement published in the country’s official gazette.
The move came as Spain recorded its highest single-day death toll during the coronavirus pandemic, with 832 new fatalities reported in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said.
In total, the number of deaths has risen since Friday to just under 5,700, meaning Spain has the second-highest death toll in the world after Italy.
The number of cases rose to around 72,000 on Saturday.
The military deployment would last for the duration of the country’s current state of emergency, authorities said.
Madrid remains the most severely affected region, accounting for almost half of all deaths in the country.