Spain sees large spike in number of new coronavirus cases, with 6,740 infections recorded in 24 hours

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Spain has recorded its biggest daily leap in coronavirus cases for nearly three weeks as another 6,740 people were added to the tally today.

The thousands of positive tests bring the Spanish total from 213,024 to 219,764 in the biggest increase since 7,026 were recorded on April 4.

The jump is partly explained by the growing use of antibody tests, which have added nearly 17,000 people to the total since they were introduced.

There was also better news for Spain today as the daily death toll fell to 367, the lowest since March 21, taking the total from 22,157 to 22,524.


Spain said today that 16,774 people had tested positive via the antibody test method, an increase of 3,944 from yesterday's total of 12,830.

Only 2,976 of the 6,740 new cases were confirmed using a traditional PCR test, official figures showed.

The Madrid region accounted for 1,097 of those while the second worst-hit region of Catalonia was responsible for another 652. 

Antibody tests show whether a patient's immune system has developed defences against coronavirus, meaning they have been infected in the past.

However, governments in several countries have warned that antibody tests are not yet reliable enough to roll out on a large scale.