The Spanish prime minister praised the nation one week after the government declared a state of emergency and then put the country under lockdown - and called on citizens to persevere through the Covid-19 pandemic. The number of people infected with the novel coronavirus took another big jump in Spain today, leaping by 5,000 for a total of 25,000 infected. The number of dead also climbed to 1,300, from 1,000 the day before. The region around Madrid one of the worst-hit in the country, with almost 9,000 cases of the coronavirus and 800 dead. "This crisis brings out the best in us," Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in an evening address to the nation. He called on Spaniards to rally together in solidarity: "Unity is our best weapon. Only together will we defeat the virus." Sanchez said that the Spanish people's compliance with the lockdown orders had so far been "exemplary" and "touching." But he also warned that the number of infections and deaths would continue to rise in the short term. "We are in a very difficult moment and we have very hard days ahead of us," he said. "It is not fear that keeps us in our homes and apartments. It is courage," he continued.
