Spanish authorities announced Friday they would turn a conference center in Madrid into a military hospital that will cater coronavirus patients as cases surges to 21,571, Reuters reported.
Spain recorded 262 fatalities, its single worst-day death toll lifting the total to 1,093.
Spain, the second most-worst outbreak in Europe, overtook Iran to become the world’s third hardest-hit country by the pandemic after China and Italy.
Around 5,500 beds along with intensive care units will be set up inside the IFEMA conference center to cope with the surging cases of COVID-19 in Madrid.
Earlier, Madrid Community President Isabel Díaz Ayuso said around 80% of people in the capital will contract the disease.
Madrid, which has become the epicenter of the outbreak in the Iberian country, accounts for 628 deaths and 7,165 cases, according to health authorities.
Health Minister Salvador Illa said Thursday: “The toughest moments are still to come, those moments when we will continue to see an increase in the number of cases.”
Spain already imposed stringent measures to contain the virus, ordering a 15-day state of emergency accompanied with a lockdown.
Illa said some clinical trials have commenced treating severe and mild patients along with research conducted by the science ministry for potential vaccine and test kits.
