Madrid, March 16: Spain has registered nearly 1,000 new COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, raising the total number of cases to 8,744, the health ministry said on Monday.

Over the same period, the number of deaths rose by nine to 297, the ministry's emergencies coordinator Fernando Simon said.

The figure for new cases was lower than weekend numbers, when 2,000 infections were detected between Saturday and Sunday and the number of deaths rose by around 100. Coronavirus Global Deaths Surpass Those in China As Toll Hits 5735 Worldwide, Italy and Iran Worst-Hit by COVID-19 Outbreak.

Of the total number, Madrid remains the worst-affected region, with 4,665 cases.

In order to rein in the virus, Spain has declared a state of alert, shutting all but essential services and ordering its population of 46 million people to stay at home. People are only authorised to go out to buy food or medicine, to go to work or to get medical treatment.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 16, 2020 05:20 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).