Spain's coronavirus death toll tops 60,000

Spain on Wednesday reported 565 coronavirus fatalities in a 24-hour period, taking the country's death toll to 60,370, according to the Health Ministry, reported Xinhua.

The total number of cases in Spain rose by 31,596 to 2,883,465, said the ministry. The 14-day incidence in the country, meanwhile, dropped to 815.82 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

Also on Wednesday, health authorities in the northeastern region of Catalonia confirmed the country's second case of the coronavirus variant that was first found in South Africa.

The announcement came on the same day as Spain started restricting flights from South Africa and Brazil in an attempt to stop the spread of the coronavirus variants.

Earlier on Wednesday, the country's new Health Minister Carolina Darias said Spain would be "open" to using the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine once it was authorized by the European Medicines Agency.