Spain sees 38,000 new coronavirus infections

Spain's Health Ministry reported 38,118 new infections and 513 COVID-19 deaths on Friday, as research suggests the UK variant is becoming increasingly dominant.

Spain's new Health Minister Carolina Darias said the country has detected 350 cases of the more contagious mutation of the virus.

She explained that researchers estimate that the variant is responsible for between "5% and 10%" of new cases and warn that "the next weeks will be key to determining whether it becomes dominant in the ecological niche."

Last week, Spain's chief epidemiologist Fernando Simon suggested the variant was responsible for well under 5% of cases.

Spain's healthcare system remains in a critical situation, though indicators suggest the country has passed the peak of infections of the third wave.

Though cases on Friday were up slightly compared to Thursday, they were down by more than 4,500 compared to the same day last week.

Deaths are mounting, however, with another 510 lives confirmed lost to COVID-19-almost 25% higher compared to last Friday.

The pressure on hospitals also continues to increase, with COVID-19 patients now using 24% of all hospital beds and 44% of the country's intensive care units.

In Valencia, La Rioja and Melilla around 60% of ICUs are dedicated to treating the COVID-19 patients.

On Friday, 15 ventilators from the Basque Country arrived to La Rioja after it asked for urgent help.

Valencia also changed its protocols to accelerate the time it takes for someone who dies of COVID-19 to be buried or cremated.

Health Ministry data from Friday shows that almost 8,500 healthcare workers in Spain have tested positive for the virus in the last two weeks, aggravating the pressure on hospital staff in the worst-hit areas.

Since the pandemic began, more than 118,000 of Spain's health care workers have been infected with the virus.