Covid-19 deaths top 90,000 in Spain

Madrid: Spain has passed the benchmark of 90,000 Covid-19 deaths, according to the latest data published by the country’s Ministry of Health.

The ministry confirmed 202 deaths between Friday and Monday, raising the total number of deaths to 90,136 in the country since the start of the pandemic, Xinhua news agency reported.

Over the 72-hour period (Friday to Monday), 292,394 new cases were reported, lifting the total number of infections to 7,457,300, while the 14-day incidence of the virus climbed 267.2 points to 2,989.47 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

Meanwhile, the occupancy of intensive care beds by Covid-19 patients climbed to 23.58 per cent, with 13.4 per cent of all beds currently occupied by people suffering from coronavirus.

The data was published the same day that children returned to school in Spain after the Christmas holiday, with the Health Ministry reporting that 32.1 per cent of the 3,350,000 children aged between 5 and 16 have been vaccinated.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told local media on Monday that his government would purchase 344,000 doses of the Pfizer anti-viral drug which has shown it can reduce hospitalisations of patients infected with Covid-19 by around 88 per cent.IANS