Death numbers in Spain in May recorded 43,295 more than normal for this time of year

Between March 1 and May 12, Spain recorded 43,295 more deaths than normal for the time of the year, this is up 52% from the expected deaths for the period.

The figure includes 27,302 confirmed fatalities from Covid-19, but there are an additional 15,993 deaths that show up on civil registries but are not recorded as coronavirus victims, even though many of them probably are.

On Wednesday, a system update with new data sent in by civil registries showed 12,000 more excess deaths than were previously known.

The Covid-19 death toll provided by the Health Ministry only counts cases where the deceased were tested for the virus.

But there are many infected people who died without being tested, and who may have passed away at home or at care facilities and do not show up in the official statistics.