MADRID – Spain passed the benchmark of 10 million confirmed COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, according to figures published by the country’s Ministry of Health.

The ministry reported 77,873 new cases on Tuesday, adding the total number to 10,039,126 cases across the country.

A total of 93,633 people in Spain have lost their lives in the pandemic, according to official figures.

Over 3.6 million of the total cases were recorded in January 2022, due to the “sixth wave” of infection caused mainly by the Omicron variant, with over three times more cases last month than in December 2021.

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The high number of cases in Spain has not been accompanied by a corresponding rise in pressure on hospitals, with COVID-19 patients currently occupying 14.52 percent of all hospital beds and 21.71 percent of beds in intensive care units, considerably less than in other waves.

The Spanish Medicines Agency authorized on Tuesday the third and final stage of trials of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Spanish company Hipra, which will determine the security and efficiency of the vaccine.