Spain on Thursday set a record in virus-related fatalities, with 950 deaths in 24 hours, even as its infection rate appeared to ease.
New coronavirus infections rose nearly 8% overnight to 110,238, placing Spain close to Italy, the country that so far has the worst outbreak in Europe.
Health authorities say contagion in Spain has dropped from a daily average of 20% until March 25 to less than 12% after that date, more than 10 days after Spaniards were ordered to stay home.
The government has acknowledged that the real number of infections could be much higher due to limited testing. The worldwide race to protect people against unwitting coronavirus carriers intensified Thursday, pitting governments against each other in the race to buy