MADRID, April 8. /TASS/. Spain has recorded at least 146,690 coronavirus infections since the outbreak hit the country, the national Health Ministry said Wednesday.

It clarified that 14,555 people died, while 48,021 patients recovered. Therefore, the number of infections rose by 6,180, while the death toll increased by 757.

Overall, the number of daily infections and fatalities in Spain is slowly decreasing. April 1 was the worst day for the country so far when 950 people died in a single day.

The first coronavirus case was recorded in Spain on January 31, while the number of infections started rapidly growing after Italy was hit by a local outbreak. On March 14, the Spanish cabinet approved a high-alert regime introduced due to the coronavirus spread. This measure allowed authorities to restrict citizens’ movement across the country except for urgent reasons. Now all educational establishments, cafes, bars, parks and entertainment facilities are shut down. Spaniards are permitted to leave their homes for grocery shopping, to go to the pharmacy, hospital or work if it cannot be carried out from home. Around 3,000 people have already been detained for breaking these restrictions.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus — named COVID-19 by the WHO — have been reported in every corner of the globe.

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 1,400,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 82,000 deaths have been reported. That said, over 300,000 individuals have recovered from the illness globally.