The occurrence of A/H1N1 flu cases in Spain surged by 24 percent last week, the Spanish Ministry of Health said Thursday in weekly-published figures.

The estimated prevalence increased from 41 cases per 100,000 inhabitants to 53.16 per 100,000 inhabitants, which means Spain now has nearly 24,000 cases in total.

Two more flu deaths were reported in the last nine days, raising the death toll to 23. The flu mortality rate of the country now stands at 0.18 deaths per 1,000 cases.

The Health Ministry did not give further details of the two deaths, but said it would as Spanish schools prepared for the new academic year.

The Spanish government said it would not close schools to slow the spread of the virus, and schools would remain open even if there were flu cases among pupils.