Spain's coronavirus death toll rises by 674 to 12,418

Spain's coronavirus death toll has risen by 674 to 12,418 in the last day, the Health Ministry said Sunday.

A day earlier the toll rose by 809.

The number of registered cases rose to 130,759 from 124,736, the ministry said.

The 674 fatalities, which were sharply down on the record 950 recorded on April 2, represented an increase of 5.7 percent over the last 24 hours, compared to a 30 percent leap in one recent day.

The number of infections rose 4.8 percent to 130,759, indicating a slowdown in the spread from 8.2 percent on April 1 and 14 percent 10 days ago.

The number of people declared to have recovered has increased by 11 percent, rising above 38,080.

The authorities say they believe they have stabilized the spread of the virus but have decided to extend until midnight April 25 a strict lockdown imposed on Spain's 46.6 million people since March 14.

"Today I unite (with colleagues) to give a small message of hope," said General Miguel Angel Villaroya, chief of the defense staff, during a coronavirus briefing on Sunday. "We are on the right track and we will beat it (the virus)."

The World Health Organization's director for Europe, Hans Kluge, tweeted about Spain: "Careful optimism as result of bold measures, innovative approaches & courageous decisions".

On Palm Sunday, a week before Easter, churches stood silent and empty in the capital Madrid, while streets that are usually packed with the stalls of the Rastro flea market were deserted.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, in a televised address to the nation Saturday, announced an extension of the state of emergency lockdown until April 26 to help tackle "the greatest crisis of our lives".

He said while lockdown measures would probably last even longer than the next 15 days, some economic restrictions, such as keeping all non-essential workers at home, would be lifted after Easter. Shops, bars and restaurants will, however, remain closed.

Business groups CEOE and CEPYME warned that while the new extension "will serve to accelerate the exit from the current health crisis" it could "deepen the economic recession in which many sectors and companies...are already mired".

They called for the government to extend aid for companies to 50 billion euros ($54.04 billion) from 20 billion and suspend taxes for particularly badly hit sectors.

Economy Minister Nadia Calvino rejected the idea in an interview with El Pais on Sunday. Asked when Spain would get back to normal, Calvino said, "We cannot return to normal from 0 to 100 in one day. We must guarantee security."

In an article published in a series of European newspapers on Sunday, Sanchez appealed for unity among the 27 European Union countries to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

"Solidarity is a key principle of the EU treaties. And it is shown at times like this. Without solidarity there can be no cohesion, without cohesion there will be disaffection and the credibility of the European project will be severely damaged."