The novel coronavirus COVID-19 has claimed the life of a Palestinian doctor who has been working in Spain, where the virus so far claimed 12,418 lives – from over 130,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, making Spain the world’s second-highest death toll after Italy

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Palestinian doctor, identified as Hisham Yousef Hamd, from Gaza, has died from coronavirus while he was doing his duty, fighting the virus at one of the country’s hospitals.

Though Sunday’s reported deaths from the highly infectious COVID-19 respiratory disease rose in Spain, the toll of 674 people who died during the past 24 hours was down from Saturday’s 809 and well below Thursday’s daily record of 950, the Health Ministry said.

The total number of registered infections rose to 130,759 from Saturday’s 124,736.

On Palm Sunday, a week before Easter, churches stood silent and empty in the capital Madrid, while streets that are usually packed with the stalls of the Rastro flea market were deserted.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, in a televised address to the nation on Saturday, announced an extension of the state of emergency lockdown until April 26 to help tackle “the greatest crisis of our lives”.