MADRID: Spain has reported its lowest daily death count for coronavirus infections in five weeks as its strict lockdown restrictions begin to pay dividends.
Spanish health authorities said Sunday that 288 people died from COVID-19 in the previous 24 hours, taking the total to 23,190 since the start of the outbreak.
It is the first time the daily death toll has fallen below 300 fatalities since March 20.
The daily number of confirmed new infections also dropped.
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Spain counts 207,634 confirmed cases overall, but authorities say that the true number of infections is unknown due to limits on testing.
The daily rate of infection fell to 0.8%, down from over 20% a month before.
The magnitude of today's decrease is important, Spanish health official Fernando Simón said.
As of tomorrow, our goal is no longer to reach the peak of the contagion curve, we are already there.
Now we need to consolidate (our position) and think about how to safely move into the next phase of scaling down our restriction measures.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is to give details on Tuesday on further moves to reduce the lockdown after children were allowed out for the first time in 44 days on Sunday.