Madrid, Mar 2 (IANS): Spanish government has announced that the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the European country has risen to 71.

Four new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Madrid, three in the northeast Catalan region and the northern region of Castilla-Leon. Southwest Spain's Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha, south of Madrid, also reported their first cases, the Spanish Ministry of Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Services announced on Sunday.

COVID-19 has been detected in 13 of Spain's 17 autonomous communities, Xinhua reported.

The region of Valencia has 15 confirmed cases, all of which can be linked to people who had recently travelled to Italy. Among the 14 cases in Madrid, seven can also be linked to people who recently visited Italy, while the rest seven cases are around the town of Torrejon de Ardoz, where authorities are still investigating the focal point of the outbreak.

Speaking to the press, Fernando Simon, the Director of the Coordination Centre for Health Alerts at the Spanish Ministry of Health said that "for the moment", the Spanish government was not considering cancellation of public events "in a generalised manner", but added there were some "particular" events "we have to be very careful with".