Spain declared a nationwide emergency on Sunday and a curfew for the entire country except for the Canary Islands to curb the second wave of Covid-19 positive cases, reports NDTV on Monday.
Spain became the first European country to record more than a million Covid-19 positive cases, and almost 35,000 patients have died on Wednesday last.
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A media report said quoting an official statement that the state of emergency would initially last for just 15days. However, the government planned to move parliament for an extension for six months.
The statement further said the overnight curfew would run from 11 pm until 6 am. However, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the new state of emergency will last until early May.
In a televised speech, Sanchez said, “The situation we are going through is extreme”.
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The official statement said the measures were agreed earlier at a two-and-a-half-hour cabinet meeting convened following calls from Spanish regions for the power to impose curfews themselves.
Sanchez nonetheless said that if conditions allowed, the measures could be lifted earlier than anticipated.
The Prime Minister argued that the state of emergency is the most effective tool to lower the rate of infection.
Authorities were responding to calls for help from 10 Spanish regions and the city of Melilla.
Under the state of emergency, the regions would have the power to limit movement in and out of their territories, and could also extend the curfew by an hour on either end depending on local conditions.
Spain was locked down during an initial state of emergency that lasted from March 15 to June 21, and the measures were among the strictest anywhere in Europe.
Sanchez said that he sought”at any price” to avoid a second severe lockdown.”Let’s stay home as much as possible,” the Prime Minister urged in the television address.
“The more we stay home the more protected we and others will be,” he added.