Spain extends coronavirus lockdown until April 25 as coronavirus cases surpass Italy
4 April 2020, 14:52
Spain will extend its coronavirus lockdown for a further two weeks until 25 April, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has confirmed.
In a news conference, Mr Sanchez said that the country needs to "reverse the virus expansion curve in the next few days and needs to reduce the contagion even further".
Spaniards have already been in lockdown for three weeks, with a ban on "all but essential" outings and almost all businesses completely shut.
It comes after Spain overtook Italy for the highest number of coronavirus cases in Europe, and the country has the second highest infection rate after the US.
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A further 809 people have died in the past 24 hours. The death toll now stands at 11,744.
7,036 people have also been diagnosed in the last day, bringing the total number of cases to 124, 736.
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However, for the first time in three days the daily death toll was under 900, and it is the lowest number in a week.
In a press conference yesterday, director of health emergencies Fernando Simon did not rule out "relaxing measures in some places", saying “it is probably not necessary to be as restrictive as it has been in the past weeks.”
However he added that although the transmission of COVID-19 seems to be somewhat under control, it is vital to continue being extremely cautious to prevent a second spike.
More than 60,000 people have died globally from Covid-19 and the number of fatalities in the UK climbed to more than 4,300 on Saturday.
In the U.S., fatalities surpassed 7,000, and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that Americans wear cloth masks to prevent the virus’s spread.
