Coronavirus: 2,000 new COVID-19 cases in Spain, total rises to 11,000

Spain on Tuesday confirmed nearly 2,000 new cases of COVID-19, sending the total spiralling past 11,000, with 491 deaths, the Health Ministry said.

Spain is the fourth worst-hit country in the world after China, Italy and Iran, with numbers rising rapidly despite an unprecedented national lockdown, with the government ordering its 46 million population to stay home.

Over the past 24 hours, the number of people infected rose by 1,987, hiking the overall total to 11,178, the ministry's emergencies coordinator Fernando Simon said.

At the same time, the number of people who had recovered from the virus stood at 1,098, which equates to a 9.0 per cent recovery rate.

Madrid is by far the worst-hit area, with 43 per cent of the total.