The number of coronavirus cases reaches 239,228 in Spain

The number of confirmed cases has been 239,228, an increase of 187 cases in the past 24 hours.

Madrid and Catalonia reported the most infections according to Friday’s figure, with 61 cases and 47 cases, respectively.

While 617 patients are being treated in intensive care units, about 196,958 patients suffering from coronavirus have recovered and been discharged from hospital.

3,556,567 tests have so far been conducted to detect coronavirus cases in the country.

Spain has the fifth-highest coronavirus cases after the United States, Brazil, Russia and the United Kingdom.

The actual number of cases, however, is likely to be much higher, as many people with only mild or no symptoms are unlikely to have been tested. The number of deceased is also believed to be an underestimate due to lack of testing and reporting in the country.

On 13 May, the results of the first wave of a Spanish Government nation-wide seroprevalence study showed that the percentage of population which could have been infected during the pandemic would be around 5%, approximately 2 million people, a figure ten times higher than the number of confirmed cases on that date.

According to a report released on 25 May by the Spanish Ministy of Health monitoring system on daily excess mortality (Sistema de Monitorización de la Mortalidad Diaria - MoMo), the number of deaths was believed to be an underestimate perhaps by as much as 12,000. (ILKHA)