Spain has reported its highest number of new coronavirus deaths in a single day, while the number of dead in France has passed 4,000 as Europe continues to struggle against the pandemic.

There were 864 new deaths reported in Spain on Wednesday, bringing the total to 9,053 since the COVID-19 outbreak began.

In France, authorities reported 509 fatalities from people who have tested positive for coronavirus, taking the national total to 4,032 and joing Italy, Spain and the United States in passing the 4,000 mark.

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The number of confirmed cases in Spain has passed 100,000, making it only the third country to reach this point, after the US and Italy. There were 7,719 new cases in 24 hours - 1,500 fewer than the previous day's increase.

It comes as Spain approaches the end of its third week in lockdown, with everyone ordered to stay home except those who work in healthcare, food production and distribution, and other essential sectors.


The country's health emergency chief Fernando Simon said: "The central issue is no longer whether we've reached the peak or not, it seems like we are there.

"The key issue is to make sure that the national health system is capable of guaranteeing adequate coverage of all our patients and treatment."

Authorities are frantically trying to boost intensive care capacity and the number of hospital beds has been increased nationally by 20%.

In the worst-hit regions of Madrid and northeast Catalonia, intensive care capacity has been almost tripled, with hotels turned into recovery rooms and sports centres and libraries being transformed into field hospitals.

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Italy, meanwhile, has more than 12,400 dead, the most of any country, and among them are more than 60 doctors.

The country has more than 105,000 confirmed cases of the virus, which includes nearly 10,000 medical workers, putting strain on the healthcare professionals still able to work.

In Milan a field hospital, including a pharmacy and radiology wards, has been opened at what was a fairground.

In France, trains, helicopters and military planes are moving patients from overwhelmed cities to temporary hospitals elsewhere.

Hospitals in Paris are almost full, despite moves to double intensive care capacity in the past week.

Paris emergency worker Christophe Prudhomme said: "It feels like we are in a third world country. We don't have enough masks, enough protective equipment, and by the end of the week we might be in need of more medication too."

France, along with Italy, has called on medical students, retired doctors and even airline cabin crew to help.

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Russia, Turkey and Cuba are among those to have sent aid to European countries, including medical equipment and doctors.

Meanwhile, in Germany there are 73,000 confirmed cases and 802 deaths. Around 16,000 people have recovered from the virus, according to figures from US university Johns Hopkins.

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A possible reason for Germany's relatively low proportion of deaths is its high number of intensive care beds - 33.9 per 100,000 people, compared to Italy's 8.6.

Worldwide, more than 880,000 people have been confirmed infected and over 44,000 have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

However, the real case numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages and the fact that many cases of the virus are mild and, consequently, not reported.