Spain reaches 10,000 covid-19 deaths

Spain surpassed 10,000 declared covid-19 deaths on Thursday.

The official number of people who lost their lives in the previous 24 hours was 950, the highest recorded in a single day during this current health crisis.

The death toll as of Thursday was 10,003 people, with Spain being the second country in the world behind Italy in terms of covid-19 fatalities.

The figures came a day after the total number of covid-19 cases surpassed 100,000. By Thursday, the number stood at 110,238, an 8,102 increase compared to 24 hours before.

Almost a quarter of the people infected with the virus have already been discharged from hospital: 26,743 patients to date.

Fernando Simón, the head of Spain's health emergencies, claimed on Thursday that the peak of the curve has been reached: "I think the focus should not be the peak - we're already there - but the number of hospitalizations and on ICUs."

While there are fewer people being sent to ICUs, patients stay there for a while, which can lead to a buildup and overburden the centers.

Simón argues that now the goal is to reduce the number of people that the average confirmed case infects to below 1.

According to Spanish health minister Salvador Illa, the number of Covid-19 cases in Spain are becoming more stable. "The figures demonstrate that the curve has stabilized, that we have achieved our first goal of reaching the peak, and that we are entering the slowdown phase," he claimed on Thursday. 

Covid-19 deaths in Catalonia pass 2,000 mark

As for Catalonia, 244 people have died due to Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, raising the total death toll so far to 2,093. 

The number of confirmed cases has now gone up to 21,804 after another 1,813 people were diagnosed with the disease. 

Meanwhile, some 6,917 people have been discharged as of yet, while another 1,855 are in serious condition.