The unrelenting increase in Covid-19 infections in Spain following the holiday season is again straining hospitals, threatening the mental health of doctors and nurses who have been at the forefront of the pandemic for nearly a year.

In Barcelona’s Hospital del Mar, the critical care capacity has more than doubled and is nearly full, with 80 per cent of intensive care unit (ICU) beds occupied by coronavirus patients, AP reports.

“There are young people of 20-something-years-old and older people of 80-years-old, all the age groups,” said Dr Joan Ramon Masclans, who heads the ICU. “This is very difficult, and it is one patient after another.”

A study released this month by Hospital del Mar looking at the impact of the spring’s Covid-19 surge on more than 9,000 health workers across Spain found that at least 28pc suffered major depression. That is six times higher than the rate in the general population before the pandemic, said Dr Jordi Alonso, one of the chief researchers.