A medical worker prepares to enter the COVID-19 patients' wards at a hospital in Barcelona, Spain, April 9, 2020. Thursday saw the number of deaths from the coronavirus in Spain rise by 683 in 24 hours from 14,555 to 15,238, while the total number of infection cases rose by 5,756 from 146,690 to 152,446. (Photo by Francisco Avia/Xinhua)
MADRID, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Thursday that the extension to the 'state of alarm' he was requesting from the Spanish Parliament until midnight on April 25 would almost certainly not be the last needed before Spain has beaten the coronavirus pandemic.
"I'm telling you now that in 15 days I will have to once again extend the state of alarm ... In 15 days, I am convinced I will have to come back to you because we will not have ended the pandemic," he explained during a debate held in the Spanish Congress over the extension until April 25.
The 'state of alarm' and the associated restrictions on freedom of movement are thus likely to continue in Spain until May 10, local media reported.
Earlier on Thursday, the prime minister said that Spain would only return to "full normality" following the coronavirus crisis when a vaccine has been discovered for the disease.
He explained that "the fire that the pandemic lit is under control," but warned that his country still had a long way before it emerged from the "tunnel."
"We don't know what kind of normality we recover ... There will be economic and social aspects in our way of life that will have to be modified," he said, adding that even when the 'state of alarm' eventually ends, restrictions on movement and social distancing rules would be lifted on a gradual basis only.
Thursday saw the number of deaths from the coronavirus in Spain rise by 683 in 24 hours from 14,555 to 15,238, while the total number of infection cases rose by 5,756 from 146,690 to 152,446.
These figures indicated that the confinement measures imposed on the country on March 14 are having a significant effect on slowing the spread of the virus, but that time is still needed to further reduce the rate of infection.
A 'state of alarm' is the first of three emergency levels a Spanish government can apply under exceptional circumstances, the others being a 'state of exception' and 'martial law'.
A 'state of alarm' grants the government special powers to limit the movement of citizens, control the means of production, use private assets if needed and deploy the military to carry out essential logistical and supply jobs.
