MADRID, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The Spanish Ministry of Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Services on Sunday reported a fall in the number of new deaths due to COVID-19 and a slight rise in the number of new cases in the country.

The death toll rose to 26,621 after 143 people lost their lives in the 24-hour period as of 9 p.m. local time (1900 GMT) on Saturday.

This is 36 fewer than the 179 deaths registered in the previous 24-hour period, and it means Spain has seen fewer than 200 new deaths for two consecutive days, although weekend figures have to be viewed with some caution due to delays in collecting information.

There was a slight rise in the number of new cases. The ministry reported 621 new infections, slightly up from the 604 new cases reported in the previous day, taking the caseload to 224,390.

Regions of Catalonia, Castilla-Leon and Madrid made up over half of the new cases, and neither Catalonia, Madrid nor urban centers in Castilla-Leon will progress to the second stage of the Spanish government's four-stage plan to relax restrictions placed to halt the spread of the virus on Monday.