Another 832 people have died in Spain as the country experienced its biggest surge in deaths due to coronavirus in just 24 hours, Metro reports.
The publication also states that the statistic overtakes yesterday's record of 769 fatalities in a single day.
Per the tracking map from the John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, there have been 5,138 confirmed deaths from the disease and 65,719 cases overall in the Mediterranean country.
Familiarize yourself with the symptoms of this potentially deadly disease:The respective death tolls in both Spain and Italy have recently overtaken that of China, where the deadly outbreak originated.
In Italy, which has the highest coronavirus death toll in the world, there are currently 86,498 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 9,134 deaths from the disease. In China, there are currently 81,996 confirmed cases, with 3,177 having died from the infection.
Earlier this week, it emerged that the United States had become the nation with the most cases of any country in the world. In the US, there are currently 104,837 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.
As a result of the worsening outbreak, Spain's nationwide lockdown was extended on Thursday for an extra two weeks, until 11 April. Citizens are prohibited from leaving their homes unless they are purchasing essential items or traveling to work.
Spain's healthcare system has been hit hard by the crisis, particularly in Madrid and northeast Catalonia where a large number of medics are being infected by the virus.
A second morgue has been set up in an ice rink located in a shopping center in the capital of Madrid in order to cope with the country's alarming death rate. It will begin operating on Monday.
Furthermore, soccer team Real Madrid has allowed its Santiago Bernabeu stadium to be used to store medical supplies.
It is believed that Spain's elderly population is in part the reason that so many people are dying from COVID-19 in comparison with other countries.