7 April - 13 April 2020

Page 1

FREE

7TH - 13TH APRIL 2020 - EDITION 833

Tel: 966 701 060 | office@costablancapeople.com | costablancapeople.com

Your Essential Weekly Read

Lockdown to be extended The Government has decided to extend the coronavirus State of Alarm for two more weeks, until April 26, and is preparing the country for further extensions, it has been revealed. Pedro Sánchez made a statement to the nation on Saturday after consulting with the Scientific Committee, the expert group which analyses all the data and statistical models to calculate how the current pandemic is evolving. Non essential sectors, those that are currently paralyzed until April 9th, will be able to return to work as planned after Easter, because the decree ordering the ‘hibernation’ of the economy will not be extended. The government’s plan is that after Easter we will return to the state of confinement that was in place before the tighter measures were announced. Experts say the curve of infection has stabilised but that the contagion continues to grow and because of this, the government will officially request Congress to grant it permission to extend the state of alarm for two more weeks. Likely already a foregone conclusion, the state’s lower house, the Congress of Deputies, will need to vote on the measure this week to formalise the decision. This extension, if voted in successfully, will be the second 15 day extension bringing the state of alarm ‘lockdown’ to 45 days. The lockdown is being extended in increments of 15 days due to the Constitution. According to Article 116 of the Spanish Constitution, there must be a democratic process in place to extend the state of alarm by 15 days at a time. Sánchez has hinted that the government is already considering further extensions, saying at the weekend, “I announce that more days of alarm will come, but not the same, we will begin to make that transition and recover some of our economic and social life.”

Despite the bad news, Sánchez has assured citizens that the data is positive. "We are close to reaching [the peak]. But now it is time to ask for sacrifice, resistance, a victory of morals,” said the President as he justified the extension of the state of alarm. “We believe that it is the time that our health system needs to recover. We have taken very harsh but essential measures. We need to maintain them,” he continued, “These are very difficult days for all. They test our serenity. Frenetic days for many that force us to make unthinkable decisions. For many, they are the most difficult days of our lives,” Sánchez admitted. The Government is already thinking about the end of lockdown, but with great caution. “We cannot relax, because it would trigger a second wave when our resistances are weaker. When we have controlled the curve, we will transition towards a new normality and towards a reconstruction of our economy. For weeks there has been a specific team of epidemiologists who have been preparing a plan to resume economic and social activity,” announced the president, who pointed out that a vaccine will take months, and therefore, while it is being researched and tested, it will be necessary to take measures in the interim. Unity Sánchez called for unity, and appealed for his fellow politicians to remember the 1977 Moncloa Pacts – a series of political and economic agreements to ensure Spain’s transition from dictatorship to democracy. His calls for unity started with the opposition leader, Pablo Casado, to whom he appealed for support. Casado and his party were vociferous in their criticism of Sánchez last week since they were not notified about the decision to tighten lockdown measures to stop all but essential services

Pedro Sánchez

This time Sánchez has changed the formula to avoid that same criticism being levelled against him or his party. "We are going to speak with all the political forces and with all the social agents to go forward, I think we can seek an agreement like the Pacts of Moncloa", said Sánchez. He also claimed does not want to enter into criticism of the opposition. “There will be time for political debate, now the enemy is Covid-19, as a government we are in it together.” Meanwhile, Sánchez thanked citizens for their patience. Spain has one of the strictest quarantines in the world. Since the beginning, no one has been allowed

to leave their homes for anything nonessential. Unlike many countries, outdoor exercise is not permitted.

“I understand how difficult it will be to stay home in isolation for two more weeks,” said Sánchez.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.