MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Saturday announced stricter lockdown measures that will force all non-essential workers to stay at home for the next two weeks, as the government reported 832 new coronavirus deaths overnight.
The latest moves to combat the virus in Spain, the second-worst affected country in Europe after Italy, will be approved at a cabinet meeting on Sunday and will last from March 30 until April 9.
“This decision allows us to reduce the number of infected people to a much greater extent,” Sanchez said in a televised address to the nation.
Over the next few days Spain would be making a “powerful collective effort”, he said, adding that the new measures would have the effect of extending the Easter holidays.
Workers would receive their usu