Spain death count rises 769 in one day

The death toll in Spain has soared over 4,800 after 769 people died in 24 hours, in what was a record one-day figure for fatalities in the country, the government said.

Spain has the world's second-highest death toll after Italy, and has so far suffered 4,858 deaths, while the number of cases jumped to 64,059.

Spain ranks fourth for the number of confirmed cases worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Although Spain's latest figures showed a daily increase of nearly 8,000 new infections, the uptick comes as the country moves to dramatically increase its rate of testing, ordering millions of new kits from around the world.

Despite the increase, the rate of new infections appears to be slowing, registering a 14% rise compared with 18% on Thursday.

Fernando Simon, the health ministry's emergencies coordinator described the figure as "promising" saying it showed that the flattening trend of the curve "was ongoing".


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