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Spain reported the fewest number of new coronavirus deaths since March 23.
The death toll rose by 510 to 16,353 and total cases in the past 24 hours increased by 4,830 to 161,852, the government said Saturday.
In Spain and elsewhere in Europe, political and business leaders are increasingly talking about the “new normal” that the bloc’s citizens will have to cope with once lockdowns are lifted. They are trying to prepare people for an eventual and gradual return to public life.
But officials in Spain, Italy, Germany and other countries that are at the epicenter of Europe’s coronavirus epidemic are warning that too much focus on life post-lockdown is premature. Death rates remain volatile. Late Friday evening, Italyextended a national lockdown until May 3.
“There are clear indications that the restrictive measures are bearing fruit,” Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said at a news conference. “If we yield now we would risk, as our experts tell us, losing all the positive results we have achieved so far.”
Germanyreported the smallest increase in coronavirus deaths in 10 days on Saturday and also said the total number of new infections slowed.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said this week that saying progress in defeating the pandemic is “fragile” and it’s too early to relent.
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