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Spain will transition out of its strict virus lockdown in four phases through the end of June, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Tuesday.

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Since March 14, Spain has enforced one of the world's strictest lockdowns in a bid to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus epidemic that has so far claimed nearly 24,000 lives in the country.

Experts believe the epidemic peaked on April 2 when 950 people died over 24 hours.

The Spanish cabinet met for hours on Tuesday to approve a plan for gradually reducing the restrictions.

"In the best-case scenario, this de-escalation phase will take a minimum of six weeks and the maximum duration we want to see is eight weeks for the whole of Spain," Sanchez said.

"By the end of June, we as a country will have entered into the new normality if the epidemic remains under control," he said.

Spain, he said, has already entered into a preparatory "phase zero", which is likely to last until May 11 when phase one would allow small shops, hotels, restaurants and places of worship to open on a limited basis with strict respect for social distancing norms.

Each of the four phases will last no more than two weeks and will be evaluated on a weekly basis, he said, without giving fixed dates.

Spain has ranked third in terms of COVID-19Read More – Source

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