TheCable

A total of 394 deaths and 2,646 new cases of coronavirus were reported in Spain in the past 24 hours.

About 1,720 people have lost their lives to the disease and 28,572 cases have been recorded so far — making the country the third worst-hit country in the world.

Madrid, the most populous city in the Spanish country, is said to be the worst-hit region, with about 60% of the country’s death.

In a televised address on Saturday, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned that the number of infections would rise in the coming days.

“The worst is yet to come, and it is pushing our capacities to the limit,” he said.

“We have yet to receive the impact of the strongest, most damaging wave, which will test our material and moral capacities to the limit, as well as our spirit as a society.”

He added that his government was working on plans to produce the equipment needed to battle coronavirus and that testing would be increased across the country.

He said his government had acquired more than 640,000 testing devices and that the number could “quickly reach a million”.

To reduce the spread of the virus, the government declared a 15-day state of emergency nationwide barring people from leaving their homes but for essential purposes.

The army and police were also deployed in streets across the country to enforce the lock-down.

Citizens are reportedly required to carry passports or identification cards and proof that they are going shopping or seeking medical care.

There are now 318,979 confirmed cases and 13,685 deaths recorded globally.