Coronavirus death toll in Spain crosses 19,000; casualties may be higher, say reports

Madrid

Spain on Thursday reported 551 new deaths as the death toll due to coronavirus crossed 19,000.

Also Read: Europe remains in eye of the storm: WHO on coronavirus pandemic

The country has the highest number of infected cases in Europe with 180,659 affected due the virus, according to Johns Hopkins coronavirus resource center's live tracker. Spain also recorded 5,183 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.

Spain now has 19,130 confirmed fatalities due to the virus.

Reports say the death count may be higher as Madrid and Catalonia have thousands more casualties. Madrid has reported  6,877 deaths so far with Catalonia reporting 3,855, however, some reports indicate the number could be much higher.

As the death toll continues to mount, Spanish health authorities said the virus has peaked since the number of daily deaths reached 950 on April 2 with the countrywide lockdown set to be extended into May.

According to an AFP's tally, the number of deaths in Europe has crossed 90,000 which is 65 per cent of the global death toll.

Italy has the highest number of deaths due to COVID-19 with 21,645,  France has lost 17,167 people to the virus.