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The coronavirus pandemic death toll in Spain passed 10 000 yesterday, as the hard-hit country reported its highest number of deaths in a single day since the outbreak began, with the total rising by 950 to 10 003 among 110 238 infections.

The new figures come a day after the United Kingdom and the United States also reported their highest number of deaths in a single day since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The US recorded 884 coronavirus deaths on Wednesday, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. It has also confirmed more than 213 000 cases of the disease.

In the UK, a further 563 people died from Covid-19, in what Prime Minister Boris Johnson described on Wednesday as a “sad, sad day”.

Globally, over 938 000 have been diagnosed with the virus, and some 194 400 have recovered. Nearly 47 200 people have died from the disease, which was first discovered in China late last year.

Light, portable and easy to use, a small ventilator originally created by an Indian robot scientist and a neurosurgeon is offering hope in the country’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Because it doesn’t need much power to run, and can be set up anywhere, the AgVa portable ventilator is allowing less-critical patients to be moved back home.

As the coronavirus toll rises in India, production of AgVa’s ventilator shot up from 500 a month to 20 000.

The next EU budget should be a new “Marshall Plan” to stoke Europe’s recovery from the coronavirus crisis, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said.

“We know in this crisis that we need quick answers,” she told a news conference, adding that the long-term budget, known as the multi-annual financial framework (MFF) was recovery’s strongest tool.

“We want to shape the MFF in such a way that it is a crucial part of our recovery plan . . . I think the European budget should be the Marshall Plan we are laying out together as a European Union for the European people,” she said, referring to the US aid programme for Western Europe from 1948 to stimulate a recovery after World War II.

India has begun converting trains and stadiums into isolation wards to deal with an anticipated surge in coronavirus cases.

Indian Railways on Wednesday said work had begun on modifying 20 000 carriages into medical facilities, with each carriage containing 16 beds.

This means that a total of 320 000 patients could be cared for in the “quarantine coaches”, a statement from the railways said. — Al Jazeera