Spain's coronavirus death toll has overtaken that of China, rising to 3,434 after 738 people died over the past 24 hours, the government said.
The spiralling number of deaths came as Spain entered the 11th day of an unprecedented lockdown to try and rein in the COVID-19 epidemic that has now infected 47,610 people, the health ministry said.
The 738 fatalities represent the steepest increase of the death toll since the epidemic hit the country, the health ministry said.
Despite the national lockdown imposed on March 14, which is to be extended until April 11, both deaths and infections have continued to mount, with officials warning this week would be particularly bad.
"We are approaching the peak," the ministry's emergencies coordinator Fernando Simon said in announcing the figures.
Health authorities are hoping it will soon become clear whether the lockdown is having the desired effect.
The Madrid region has suffered the brunt of the epidemic with 14,597 infections -- just under a third of the total -- and 1,825 deaths, or 53 percent of the national figure.
With hospitals on the brink of collapse from the surge in patients, troops have set up a massive field hospital in Madrid's vast IFEMA exhibition centre which currently has 1,500 beds but which could be expanded to take in up to 5,500 people -- making it the largest hospital in Spain.
And with the city's funeral services overwhelmed, officials have commandeered the Palacio de Hielo ice skating rink to serve as a temporary morgue.
Across the planet, the grim COVID-19 toll mounted further, with more than 18,200 deaths and 405,000 declared infections, half of them in Europe, according to an AFP tally.
The medical situation is still critical in Europe, where hardest-hit Italy had mixed news.
The Mediterranean country's death toll shot back up to 743 after two days of slight decline from a world-record peak of 793 on Saturday. But officially registered new infections rose just eight percent for the second straight day.
Elsewhere Ireland ordered non-essential businesses shut, Britain planned a 4,000-bed emergency hospital in London and Spain called for practical support from the NATO military alliance.
Iran's president warned that mandatory movement restrictions could be introduced as soon as Wednesday evening in the country, which has seen one of the world's highest death tolls from the pandemic so far.
And nearly 130 million Americans, or 40 percent of the population, are under or will soon come under some lockdown order, including in the largest state of California.
Many governments are listening to health experts who warn the only way to slow the epidemic -- and save the lives of the elderly and vulnerable -- is by imposing "social isolation" measures.
But Trump is not convinced the move is worth the enormous economic cost.
"Our country -- it's not built to shut down," he told Fox News. "You can destroy a country this way by closing it down."
