Spain surpasses one million coronavirus cases, first in western Europe

With over a million Covid-19 diagnoses since the beginning of the pandemic – 1,005,295 to be precise – Spain has become the first place in western Europe to surpass the somber milestone.

In terms of cases per region, Catalonia is leading the ranking with 17,287 diagnoses over the past 7 days according to the Spanish ministry of health figures released on Wednesday. It is followed by Madrid, with 14,573 cases, and Andalusia with 13,628, over the same period.

Another 156 people have died due to the virus, bringing the overall death toll to 34,366.

This comes a day after Spain's health minister, Salvador Illa, stated that the government was considering a new state of alarm in order to impose a curfew in an attempt to halt the spread of the disease. 

Catalonia, where bars and restaurants have been shut for both indoor and outdoor dining since October 16, reported 3,982 more PCR and antigen test positives on Wednesday. According to the Catalan health department, there have been a total of 210,318 Covid-19 cases and 13,701 deaths in Catalonia since the beginning of the pandemic.