Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said his country is beginning to turn a corner during the coronavirus pandemic.
Sanchez, who has led his country through weeks of infections and more than 14,700 deaths, on Thursday asked Parliament to extend his stringent state of emergency order until April 26. He added, however, that the pandemic is cresting, and Spain would soon be trying to figure out how to return to normal.
“We have reached the peak, and now the deescalation begins,” Sanchez, stressing that the return to normalcy would be “gradual.”
“The climb has been difficult, as the descent will also be,” he continued. “The last thing we should allow is a step backward because that would be more than a setback.”
Sanchez also appealed for unity among member countries of the European Union. He said that “Europe cannot afford to look the other way” in regard to the global health crisis.
“The European Union is in danger if there is no solidarity against the virus,” the prime minister warned.
Spain has the second most official cases of the coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University, which puts the number at about 150,000.
