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COVID-19: Spain PM Pedro Sanchez wants 1 month extension of state of emergency

Earlier, the Prime Minister received parliamentary support for two-week extensions to the state of emergency that took effect on March 14 and expires May 24.

COVID-19: Spain PM Pedro Sanchez wants 1 month extension of state of emergency

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, giving a press conference at La Moncloa Palace, in Madrid, on May 16, 2020 (Photo: AFP)

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Saturday said that he’ll ask Parliament for what he hopes will be the last extension of the state of emergency.

Sanchez seeks the support of the legislature to support a one-month extension of the state of emergency that gives his government extraordinary powers to maintain the nation’s two-month lockdown.

Earlier, the Prime Minister received parliamentary support for two-week extensions to the state of emergency that took effect on March 14 and expires May 24.

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Last week, in a televised speech, Sanchez warned that “the virus has not disappeared. The fight will continue, and will not end until there is a vaccine”.

According to the health authorities, there are 102 confirmed deaths from COVID-19 on Saturday, taking Spain’s death toll to 27,563. Over a month ago Spain, had more than 900 deaths a day before the lockdown measures for an outbreak that’s infected a confirmed 276,505.

Earlier, the government has nonetheless indicated that some economic sectors might not rebound before the end of the year, with tourism the main question mark at the moment.

In April, almost 900,000 Spanish workers have lost their jobs since the country went into lockdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic, social security data published.

Meanwhile, the total number of COVID-19 cases across 188 nations reached 4,500,476 and the death toll stood at 304,835 at 11.45 pm (IST) on Friday.

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