Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Wednesday that too " hasty " deconfinement would be " unforgivable " before convincing the deputies to extend the state of alert in the country, one of the most mourning for the pandemic.
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Thanks to the voices of the Liberals of Ciudadanos and the Basque nationalists, the state of alert system - which notably makes it possible to limit travel and was to expire on Saturday midnight - has been extended by two weeks, until May 23 inclusive. The right-wing opposition of the Popular Party, which had voted for the previous extensions, however refused to support it this time. " Ignoring the risk of the epidemic and raising the state of alert in a hurry would be an absolute, total and unforgivable error, " argued Mr. Sanchez before the deputies.
This is the fourth time that the state of alert has been extended. It had allowed the Spanish executive to impose on March 14 the strictest containment, which began to be relaxed since the end of April. According to the new assessment published Wednesday by the Ministry of Health and which confirms the marked slowdown of the epidemic, Spain has recorded 244 deaths from the coronavirus in 24 hours, a rebound after three days below 200.
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In total, the number of deaths is 25,857 while the number of confirmed cases has exceeded 220,000. " We were progressing very well ", but " it would be really sad that because of a desire to go out faster than what is recommended, we lose all that we have gained ", warned the director of the Emergency Center sanitary, Dr. Fernando Simon.
After having authorized the children's walks at the end of April and then the adults' outings for sports or walks last weekend, the government plans to launch, on Monday, a new phase of the deconfinement plan which must be spread out until at the end of June. Until the end of this plan, travel will remain limited for the Spanish, who will not be able to leave their province. " The restrictions will be less and less severe, but there will still be restrictions and these restrictions require a state of alert " to be applied, explained Pedro Sanchez.
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Its management of the crisis is severely criticized by the Popular Party, the first right-wing opposition force, as well as by the extreme right and the Catalan separatists who consider that the government makes excessive use of the state of alert.