Madrid, Aug 22 (IANS): Residents of the Spanish capital of Madrid, especially in the areas hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, have been asked to "stay at home" due to a recent surge in the number of confirmed cases.

Antonio Zapatero, a senior health official from the Madrid region, made the recommendation on Friday after the capital city registered 1,199 new cases, reports Xinhua news agency.

The region registered 11,679 cases in the last seven days and 20,885 over the past fortnight.

This is especially worrying as many residents of the capital are currently away on holiday and are expected to return at the start of September, when the new school year is scheduled to begin.

The Spanish Ministry of Health reported on Friday 3,650 new cases of the coronavirus in the last 24 hours, an increase of 301 from the figure registered on Thursday.

With 106,215 confirmed infections, the Autonomous Community of Madrid is the region with the most cases of COVID-19, followed by Catalonia, with 98,462 and the Basque Region, with 23,919.

The Community of Madrid has recorded, since the beginning of the pandemic, 9,332 deaths in hospitals while 106,215 people tested positive for COVID-19, according to Friday's Health Ministry figures.

Meanwhile 4,827 people have died from the virus in residential care homes for the elderly, with a further 947 dying in their homes and 29 in other places, pushing the toll to 15,135 since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis in Madrid.

The Ministry also updated the total number of people infected by the coronavirus in Spain to 386,054, with 28,838 deaths.