UPDATE 1-Slovakia reports biggest daily rise in coronavirus cases since April

(Adds PM comment, details)

PRAGUE, July 9 (Reuters) - Slovakia reported its biggest daily jump in new coronavirus cases since April 22 on Thursday as infections rose again.

The Central European country has one of Europe's lowest death tolls from COVID-19 and has avoided a surge in cases like its western neighbours since the pandemic struck in March.

On Wednesday, it recorded 53 new cases, according to Health Ministry data, which was the seventh day since June 30 the daily rise had been in double digits.

In total, it has reported 1,851 cases, of which 1,477 have recovered and 28 have died.

"53 new cases. Too many for us to continue to rely on people's responsibility. Unfortunately," Prime Minister Igor Matovic wrote on his Facebook page, without giving more details.

It was not clear if that meant restrictions would be reimposed. The prime minister's office had no further comment.

The recent rise in cases follows a period in May and June were case numbers rose mostly in the single digits each day. The biggest daily spike was 114 in the middle of April.

Slovakia was among the first to implement strict measures against the COVID-19 illness in March, which helped it to keep case numbers low. Most of those measures have now been eased.

(Reporting by Jason Hovet; Editing by Alison Williams and Angus MacSwan)