MADRID — Spain’s Health Ministry says it recorded no deaths from COVID-19 for a second day in a row.

The latest official data reported Tuesday showed an increase in new confirmed cases, however — 137 in the previous 24 hours compared with an increase of 71 cases between Sunday and Monday.

Madrid accounted for over half of the new cases, with 73. The Spanish capital has been the area of the country hardest-hit by the coronavirus.

The head of Spain’s emergency response called the falling death rate “very encouraging.”

Fernando Simón added that the number of patients being treated in intensive care units has also been declining, with only nine people admitted to ICUs over the past seven days.

Spain’s official national death toll from the pandemic is 27,127, while the country has almost 240,000 confirmed cases.