MADRID, Apr 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The number of new cases of COVID-19 infection and new deaths continued to fall in Spain, according to the daily data published by the Spanish Ministry for Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Services on Sunday.
A total of 6,023 new infections were registered between Saturday and Sunday, fewer than the 7,026 new cases in the previous 24 hours and 7,472 between Thursday and Friday, bringing the country’s total infection cases to 130,759.
The number of deaths rose by 674 to 12,418 on Saturday, 135 fewer than 809 deaths seen in the previous 24 hours. This means the country has seen the new daily deaths fall for three consecutive days.
Meanwhile, 58,744 patients needed hospital treatment, 1,132 more than Saturday, with 6,861 requiring intensive care — an increase of 329, in the last 24 hours.
Madrid and the Catalan Region continued to be the two hardest hit parts of Spain. Madrid reported 4,941 deaths from a total number of 37,584 confirmed cases, while the Catalan Region registered 2,637 deaths from 26,032 cases.
Meanwhile the number of patients who have now recovered from the disease increased by 3,861 to 38,080 on Sunday.
Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, said, he would ask Parliament to extend the State of Alarm, which was imposed on the country on Mar 14, and due to expire on Apr 12, until “24 hours on Apr 25.”
Sanchez said, the continued fall in the number of new cases showed that the lock-down and other measures were “giving their reward, but that Spain needed “to maintain the same discipline and the same tenacity.”
Sanchez’s request to extend the State of Alarm is certain to be approved, after the opposition parties (People’s Party and Ciudadanos) both said, they would support his proposal.
A State of Alarm is the first of three emergency levels a Spanish government can apply under exceptional circumstances, with the others being “A State of Exception” and “Martial Law” (Estado de Sitio). A State of Alarm grants the government special powers to limit the movement of citizens, control the means of production and use private assets, if needed and also use the military, to carry out essential logistical and supply jobs.
