Spain sees 757 more virus deaths, a slight rise from Tuesday

OVIEDO, Spain

With 757 more deaths confirmed from the new coronavirus, Spain’s death toll has jumped to 14,555 on Wednesday.

Wednesday's daily death toll came in slightly higher than 743 on Tuesday, but still down from a daily high of 950 last Thursday.

Another 6,180 cases were confirmed in the last 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry data, bringing the total number of positive cases to 146,690.

Health Minister Salvador Illa clarified on Tuesday that Spain has one of the “most demanding and rigorous” definitions of coronavirus in Europe and only those who tested positive for the virus are counted in the official death toll.

That leaves out potentially thousands of people who were treated as probable but not confirmed cases, and those who died in places like nursing homes without being tested.

Still, with the country under strict lockdown measures for more than three weeks, many Spanish hospitals are beginning to feel the pressure ease.

Over 63,000 people in Spain have required hospitalization due to COVID-19. But the number of patients recovering is increasing each day.

As of Wednesday, more than 48,000 people recovered -- up nearly 5,000 in the last 24-hour period.