Begona Gomez, the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, has tested positive for COVID-19, the prime minister's office said.

Gomez and her husband are doing well and remain at their official residence in Madrid, the Moncloa palace, the Government added. Gomez joined thousands of demonstrators on International Women's Day last Sunday, to protest the gender wage gap. Earlier this week, two of Sanchez's ministers also tested positive for the virus.

This comes as the Spanish Government formally declared a state of emergency on Saturday, as new cases of the lethal virus continued to soar.

The country has been placed in a lockdown, with people ordered to stay at home for the next two weeks. People will only be allowed to go out if they need to buy food and medicine, go to work or hospital.

Spain is the worst affected country after Italy, with 6,251 cases of the virus and 193 deaths.

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