Spain PM Pedro Sanchez sees COVID ‘fire coming under control’, will be in control soon

Madrid: Spain is close to passing the worst of its coronavirus outbreak, the prime minister said, as the Spanish parliament approved a 15-day extension to the national state of emergency. “The fire starts to come under control,” PM Pedro Sanchez told MPs in Madrid, saying the country would have “total victory” over the virus, the BBC reported. Spain has Europe’s highest number of confirmed cases, with 152,446. As of Thursday, the country has reported 15,238 deaths.

Sanchez is the latest European leader to suggest the situation may be stabilising. His comments came ahead of news that EU finance ministers had agreed a 500 billion euros ($546bn) rescue package for European countries hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The deal, reached after marathon discussions in Brussels that began on Tuesday, was announced by the chairman of the Eurogroup finance ministers, Merio Centeno.

The French Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire, said the agreement was the most important economic plan in EU history. The ministers fell short of accepting a demand by France and Italy to share out the cost of the crisis by issuing so-called “corona bonds” (or eurobonds) - mutualised debt that all EU nations help to pay off. On Thursday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country rejected a plan to share out coronavirus-incurred debt in the form of “coronabonds” (or eurobonds) - mutualised debt that all EU nations help to pay off. “You know that I don’t believe we should have common debt because of the situation of our political union and that’s why we reject this... but there are so many ways to show solidarity and I believe we will find a good solution,” she said.

Also read: China intensifies screening of Asymptomatic COVID-19 cases

Also watch: SEBA will declare Results of HSLC-High Madrasa within 30 days from repeal of lockdown