Spain passes 6mn Covid-19 cases mark

Madrid, Dec 29 (IANS) Spain's Ministry of Health has reported 99,671 new Covid-19 cases for the past 24 hours, bringing the country's total number of coronavirus cases to 6,032,297 since the start of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, another 114 Covid-19-related deaths during the same period were confirmed by the Ministry on Tuesday, taking the number of people who have lost their lives to 89,253 in the country, Xinhua news agency reported.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Tuesday that 80 per cent of Spaniards aged above 60 years have received a third dose of the vaccine, while the regional government in the Basque region of northern Spain confirmed that attendance at football grounds would be reduced to 50 per cent capacity and that bars and restaurants will have to close at 1 a.m.

The Ministry of Health and representatives of Spain's 17 Autonomous Communities will study a proposal to reduce the period of quarantine for people testing positive for Covid-19 from 10 to 5 days.