MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's health emergency chief Fernando Simon, who leads the country's response to the coronavirus epidemic and maintains regular contact with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, has tested positive for the virus, health official Maria Jose Sierra said on Monday.

Speaking at a daily news conference where she replaced Simon, Sierra said the trend in daily infections had changed since the introduction of lockdown measures, with new infections now rising at roughly 12% a day, compared with around 20% before March 25.