Spain coronavirus daily death toll rises again by 619 to total of nearly 17,000

Latest surge ends three-day streak of daily declines

Spain’s coronavirus death toll has risen by 619 overnight to 16,972, the health ministry has said.

The number of deaths rose from 16,353 recorded the previous day, breaking a three-day streak of daily declines.

Sunday’s daily death toll also followed an almost three-week low of 510 on Saturday, health officials said.

The overall number of confirmed Covid-19 infections in Spain has risen to 166,019 from 161,852.

The region has the world’s third-highest number of deaths linked to the pandemic. Meanwhile, the US has overtaken Italy to become the country with the highest number of deaths caused by the virus.

Globally, more than 1.7 million people have been infected by the coronavirus and at least 108,252 have died, according to a tally by Reuters.

A medical adviser to the government has warned the UK could be hit harder by the coronavirus than any other country in Europe.

Sir Jeremy Farrar, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), told BBC’s Andrew Marr: “Numbers in the UK have continued to go up. And yes, the UK is likely to be certainly one of the worst, if not the worst affected country in Europe.”