COVID-19: Spain's death toll jumps to beyond 5,600

Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - With 832 additional deaths in 24 hours, Spain's death toll surged to 5,690 on Saturday, according to data released by the country's Ministry of Health.

The ministry also reported a 12% jump in cases from yesterday, bringing total confirmed cases to 72,248.

According to the data, 40,630 people in Spain have been hospitalized due to the virus and 4,575 have gone into intensive care.

Over 12,000 people have recovered.

Spain is the world's second-worst affected country by the coronavirus in terms of deaths.

One of the country's major issues has been a widespread shortage of protective gear for medical professionals.

As of Friday, the government said 9,444 healthcare workers had been infected by the virus, making up over 14% of total confirmed cases at the time -- the highest proportion in the world.

On Saturday, Spain's health ministry announced it received a shipment of 1.2 million masks.

Spain has been on lockdown since March 14 with the state of emergency has been extended until April 12.

After first appearing in Wuhan, China, last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 177 countries and territories, according to data compiled by U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

The data shows over 607,900 cases have been reported worldwide since last December, with the death toll above 28,100 and over 131,800 recoveries.