The coronavirus crisis in Spain is going to worsen next week

The coronavirus crisis in Spain is going to worsen next week, and Spaniards must be prepared to face an even more difficult situation.

That was the message from Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez during a national address last night to discuss the pandemic, which has claimed more than 1,350 lives here in Spain.

“Unfortunately the number of diagnosed cases is going to rise in the coming days.

Sánchez said, The worst is yet to come, and it is pushing our capacities to the limit.”

“The hardest part remains, and it will put our [healthcare] system on the ropes.”

The leader of the Socialist Party (PSOE) called on the country to face the upcoming challenge with strength and unity.

“We have to reach the end of next week very strong.

The risk is everywhere, but the damage is concentrated in a few places,” said Sánchez, in reference to the Madrid region, where 60% of all coronavirus fatalities have occurred so far.

The prime minister defended the decision to declare a state of alarm last Saturday, arguing the lockdown in Spain had “bought time” for the healthcare system to prepare for the pandemic.

Reflecting on the past seven days, Sánchez said: “[The coronavirus] is a catastrophe that humanity wasn’t prepared for.

These seven days have changed us. We look upon all life near to us as life at risk.

We have changed how we view our neighbors, who are no longer seen as strangers. This crisis is bringing out the best in us.”

The prime minister, however, was not optimistic about the figures, nor did he give any certainties with respect to the crisis in Spain, which has the second-highest number of coronavirus cases in Europe after Italy.

“We are fighting an enemy that we are getting to know bit by bit. As we get to know it, we are changing how we fight it,” said Sánchez.

“Spain has followed the advice of international experts. We have been applying the strategy of the WHO [World Health Organization] to win the time needed to improve the resistance of our healthcare system, and so that science can find a vaccine.”