Spain’s equality minister has tested positive for coronavirus and has been quarantined with her partner, deputy prime minister and Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias, according to the government’s statement on Thursday.

The statement further said, “The minister (Irene Montero) is in a good condition and second deputy prime minister Pablo Iglesias is also in quarantine due to the situation”.

“This morning, all members of the government will undergo testing,” the statement added while indicating the results would be published later in the day.

Although the meeting would go ahead, it would only include those ministers whose presence was essential, and all of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s upcoming appointments would be conducted by video conference, the statement said.

The statement came as Spain struggles to handle a quadrupling of cases in three days, taking the number of infections above 2,000 and 48 dead, with Madrid the worst-hit area accounting for more than half of the cases.

The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has jumped in the last 24 hours by 189 to 1,016, a rise of 23 per cent, the country’s Civil Protection Agency said on Thursday.

The total number of cases in Italy, the European country hardest hit by the virus, rose to 15,113 from a previous 12,462, an increase of 21.7 per cent.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a pandemic as Italy tightened its strict quarantine and the United States imposed a ban on flights to Europe.

According to the WHO report, more than 4,613 people have died and over 126,000 have been infected globally.

About 68,000 victims have recovered, according to Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the virus.

China’s National Health Commission reported on Friday at least seven new coronavirus deaths as of the end of Thursday, pushing the total number nationwide to 3,176.

Beijing also reported at least eight new confirmed cases during the same period, pushing the total number of cases to 80,813.

Over 110 countries and regions have reported 118,326 confirmed cases, including 37,371 cases outside China.

On Wednesday, WHO said that the COVID-19 outbreak can be characterized as a “pandemic” as the virus spreads increasingly worldwide.

More than 4,000 people have died and over 110,000 have been infected worldwide, with the majority in China, though daily infections are now growing at a much faster pace abroad.

The novel Coronavirus outbreak has caused alarm as it has crossed global fatalities in the 2002-03 SARS epidemic.

(With inputs from agency)