Spain records no new coronavirus deaths in 24 hours for the first time since March

Spain has recorded no new coronavirus deaths in a 24-hour period for the first time since March, said health officials.

The country declared a state of emergency on March 14 and entered a nationwide lockdown in an attempt to tackle a Covid-19 outbreak that has claimed at least 27,000 lives.

But on Monday, Spanish health officials said no new coronavirus deaths had been recorded in the past 24 hours.

Emergency health response chief Fernando Simon said the development is “very, very encouraging”.

He told a news conference there were only 71 new infections over the past 24 hours.

“We are in a very good place in the evolution of the pandemic,” Mr Simon said. “The statistics are following a trend. They are going in the right direction.”

Spain reported its first two deaths on March 3 and another was reported two days later.

As of Monday afternoon, 27,127 people have died after contracting coronavirus in Spain and there are 239,479 cases of the disease in the country, according to John Hopkins data.

It comes after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Sunday that he would ask parliament for a final two-week extension of the nation’s state of emergency.

The current state of emergency is set to expire on June 7, and Mr Sanchez said the request will be “the last, definitive extension of 15 days”.

Mr Sanchez said the final stretch of the lockdown will include the handing back of control over health care to the regions that have shown the most progress in containing the virus.

The central government is rolling back confinement measures depending on which areas have fewer infections and are better prepared for a possible second outbreak.

The focus is now on keeping the virus in check while reactivating an economy that Mr Sanchez has said will shrink by over 9 per cent this year and take two years to recover.

On the outbreak, the PM added: “We have almost reached safe harbour.”

The country is set to lift its 14-day quarantine rule for foreign tourists on June 21 as Spain seeks to attract holidaymakers despite the Covid-19 crisis.

Transport Minister Jose Abalos said the rule was being lifted earlier than the previously proposed July 1 date so test runs can take place involving holidaymakers from countries and places with low coronavirus contagion rates.

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