Spain's daily toll of coronavirus deaths rose on Tuesday for the first time in five days, with 743 people succumbing overnight compared to 637 in the previous 24 hours, but there was still hope that the national lockdown might be eased soon, Reuters reports.

“It is normal to have some oscillations ... What matters is to see the trend and the cumulative data,” said Maria Jose Sierra, deputy chief of health emergencies.

She said the latest data included some delayed notifications from the weekend.

The total number of cases rose to 140,510, second only to the United States, and the death toll of 13,798 was behind only Italy's.