Pedro Sánchez spoke by videoconference to regional presidents on Sunday, who he asked to identify public and private buildings with the purpose of accommodating asymptomatic people who test positive for coronavirus.

He said that he wants them to find premises, such as hostels, hotels or sports centres where they can be quarantined. The intention is to isolate those found to be infected and avoid the transmission that would occur of they were not confined. This is one of the measures planned for the “de-escalation” stage of the pandemic, once the new extension of the state of alarm comes to an end. Sánchez has also promised that a million tests that will be distributed throughout this week.

At the meeting, the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Quim Torra, was critical of the Prime Minister saying that his “coordination on the issue of supplies has not worked.”

On Saturday Sánchez announced a new extension of the state of alarm, until 26 April, which has to be validated by Congress.

He admitted that it will not be the last extension. “More days of alarm will come,” he said, although a relaxation of some measures is already being considered.

“There will certainly be more days but they will be different, we will begin to recover something of our personal, economic and social life,” he said.

The Prime Minister, said he was very optimistic, despite the fact that the pandemic now exceeds 12,000 deaths in our country.

674 more dead

Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic continues to add victims. According to the latest figures issued by the Ministry of Health, the number of deaths amounts to 12,418  after registering  674 more in the last 24 hours. The confirmed cases are 130,759, 6,023 more than on Saturday. The 6% increase is the smallest since the epidemic began.

There are 6,861 patients in intensive care units, which is 329 more. The number of patients who have recovered numbers 38,080, 3,861 more than the previous day.

By communities, Madrid continues to be the most affected, with 37,584 confirmed cases and 4,941 deaths. There are 1,499 patients in ICUs. Catalonia follows, with 26,032 positives and 2,637 deaths.