MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Sunday any further loosening of the country’s lockdown restrictions would depend on more progress in the fight against the coronavirus, a day before some companies plan to reopen their doors.
A woman kneels as she prays after Easter Sunday mass at a empty Santa Maria de Cana parish amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Pozuelo de Alarcon, Spain, April 12, 2020. REUTERS/Sergio Perez
The country’s overnight death toll from the infection rose for the first time in three days on Sunday, to 619, health ministry data showed, bringing the cumulative toll to 16,972. Confirmed cases increased by around 2.6% to 166,019.
Tough lockdown measures have helped bring down a spiralling death rate that reached its peak in early April. New deaths reported on Saturday were the lowest in 19 days while the increase of confirmed cases has roughly halved from a week ago.
“We are still far from victory, from the moment when we can pick up our normal lives again, but we have made the first decisive st