Madrid, Aug 29 (IANS): The number of Covid-19 cases in Spain rose by 9,779 in the past 24 hours to 439,286, according to the latest figures published on Friday by the Spanish Ministry of Health.

According to the statistics, Spain has registered 43,747 cases in the past seven days, which is the worst weekly figure since the end of March, Xinhua reported.

Madrid was the worst affected region of Spain with 13,391 new cases in the last week, twice as many as Catalonia's 6,103, which was the second worst.

The ministry also reported 129 deaths in the past week, taking the death toll to 29,011.

The data is especially worrying as it came before the end of the holiday season, with many Spaniards returning to work on August 31 or September 1, with a consequent rise in the number of people in major cities and those using public transport.

As children in Spain will also return to school in the coming days, the Health Ministry and the Education Ministry published a list of 29 measures and five recommendations for the start of the school year.

Key measures include taking teachers' and students' temperature every morning, while children over six years old will have to wear face masks in class and clean their hands at least five times during the school day.

Adequate ventilation is required in classrooms with windows being opened at least every 15 minutes, while a "safe distance" of one and a half meters between students will be applied.

In addition, schools are required to apply extra hygiene measures (especially in bathrooms) and create stable "bubble groups" of children, in which closer contacts will be allowed.