As of Saturday, Spain has reported 11,744 deaths. (Representative)
Madrid:
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Saturday that the country would be closed until April 25 to curb the spread of the novel corona virus.
"The cabinet will again ask for Parliament approval on Tuesday to extend the alarm condition for a second time until midnight on Saturday, April 25," Sanchez said in a television speech.
"With extreme caution, we believe that this is the time it takes our health system to recover," he said.
Hospitals, especially the intensive care units, were overwhelmed by an influx of coronavirus patients.
However, Spain recorded a second daily drop in coronavirus-related deaths, with 809 deaths on Saturday.
The total number of deaths in the country is 11,744, second only to Italy.
The number of new Spanish cases also decreased to 7,026, increasing to 124,736.
On March 14, a nationwide 15-day state of emergency was announced for the first time, which forbids people to leave the house, except for important excursions such as buying food or looking for medical care.
"We know that these three weeks of isolation are bearing fruit," said Sanchez.
The imprisonment has enabled "avalanche containment in hospitals, care for the sick and saved lives".
(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and published from a syndicated feed.)
