Your trusted source

The Spanish health ministry on Friday confirmed a slight increase in the number of new deaths of the coronavirus, while the number of new cases rose by over 1,000.

As Xinhua news agency reports, the coronavirus death toll in Spain rose to 26,299 after 229 people lost their lives in the 24-hour period until 21:00 hours local time on Thursday.

This is 16 more than the 213 deaths registered 24 hours earlier, but it signifies that Spain has now suffered fewer than 250 new deaths for each of the past six days.

There was, however, a sharp increase in the number of new cases detected via PCR tests -- which check if the coronavirus is active in the body. The ministry reported 1,095 new infections -- compared to 754 in the previous 24 hours, taking the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 222,857.

Of the new cases, 543 were reported in Catalonia, while a further 148 were confirmed in the Comunidad de Madrid.