Spain's COVID-19 cases pass 100,000, deaths top 9,000

MADRID - The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Spain rose by 7,719 to 102,136 on Wednesday, according to the Spanish Ministry of Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Services.

The ministry also reported that the number of deaths rose to 9,053, up 864 in the past 24 hours. This is the highest death toll for a single day so far witnessed during the pandemic, beating Tuesday's record of 849.

The 7,719 new cases reported on Wednesday represent an increase of 8.17 percent in new cases in a 24-hour period, which implies that the spread of the coronavirus continues to slow after spreading at a rate of around 20 percent last week and 12 percent over the weekend.

The ministry also reported that 22,647 people have now recovered, up 3,388 from Tuesday's total.

Nationwide, 51,418 patients have had hospital treatment for COVID-19, with 5,872 of them requiring treatment in an intensive care unit.

Over 10 percent of all cases in Spain are health workers who have been infected while helping save others.

Madrid continued to be the worst affected part in the country, registering 29,840 cases and 3,865 deaths.

Wednesday saw the arrival of another aircraft at an airport outside Madrid, carrying 11.7 tons of medical supplies from Shanghai, China.