Spain overtakes Italy in cases, European countries adhere to COVID-19 measures

ANTI-VIRUS MEASURES TO STAY

More and more European nations have realized the effects of social distancing and decided to extend related measures.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez confirmed Saturday that he would ask for an extension of the State of Alarm to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

The three weeks of lockdown in Spain to date "have slowed the spread of the virus; they have slowed the number of people going to hospitals, and they have allowed the number of people leaving hospitals to increase," he said.

Greece joined a slew of European countries, which have extended their COVID-19 measures, to announce on Saturday that it is extending its nationwide lockdown to April 27.

With a single-day increase of 975, Switzerland's total number of confirmed coronavirus cases has surged to 20,278 as of Saturday morning, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) reported on its website.

Noting a constant growth of confirmed cases, roughly 1,000 per day, Daniel Koch, a top official from FOPH, said Switzerland has definitely not reached a peak where easing lockdown measures could be taken into account.

In Italy, which has extended the nationwide lockdown till April 13, Health Minister Roberto Speranza reiterated the importance of respecting social distancing.

"Right now, the path of social distancing is the true weapon we have at our disposal," Speranza said in an interview with RAI News 24.

He was echoed by Extraordinary Commissioner for the Coronavirus Emergency Domenico Arcuri, who warned citizens in a press conference "to abstain from thinking that the time has already come to ... go back to normal behavior."

"For now, nothing has changed," he emphasized.