Spanish authorities said on Friday they would turn a Madrid conference centre into a giant makeshift military hospital for thousands of coronavirus patients, as Europe's second-worst outbreak claimed another 235 lives, Reuters reports.

Spain's worst single-day death toll yet brought the country's total fatalities above 1,000.

A Military Emergency Unit member disinfects Nuevos Ministerios metro station during a partial lockdown as part of a 15-day state of emergency to combat the spread of coronavirus disease in Madrid, Spain on March 20, 2020. — Reuters
A Military Emergency Unit member disinfects Nuevos Ministerios metro station during a partial lockdown as part of a 15-day state of emergency to combat the spread of coronavirus disease in Madrid, Spain on March 20, 2020. — Reuters

Some 5,500 hospital beds, including intensive care units, will be set up inside the 240,000 square metre IFEMA conference centre on the capital's outskirts to cope with surging demand expected in the coming days, the Madrid region said in a tweet.

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