Spain is “far from victory” in its fight against the coronavirus, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned on Sunday as the country's death toll from the pandemic rose again after falling for three days in a row.

The nation registered 619 new deaths in the last 24 hours from Covid-19, bringing the death toll to 16,972, the health ministry said, the highest in the world after the United States and Italy. The toll was 510 on Saturday, the lowest since March 23.

But the number of new infections continued its slow, rising by 4,167 to 166,019, a smaller increase than was recorded on Saturday.

“We are still far from victory, from the moment when he will recover normality in our lives,” Sanchez said during a televised address.

“We are all keen to go back out on the streets... but out desire is even greater to win the war and prevent a relapse,” he added.