Spain virus death toll soars past 1,000: ministry

The number of cases also soared to 19,980 after another 2,833 infections were confirmed over the same period, the ministry's emergencies coordinator Fernando Simon said.

The figures showed a 16.5 percent hike in the number of infections, which was a drop from the 25-percent increase registered a day earlier, Simon said.

But he also said the testing laboratories were "overwhelmed" which could skew the numbers.

Of those diagnosed, 52 per cent -- or 10,542 people -- were in hospital with 1,141 being treated in intensive care units, or around 6.0 percent of those infected.

Madrid remains the worst-hit area, accounting for 7,165 cases, or  36 percent of the total infections in Spain, while the number of deaths in the capital rose to 628 -- around 63 percent of the national total.