Spanish PM to meet regional leaders amid Covid surge

Madrid, Dec 20 Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that he will meet the leaders of the country's 17 autonomous communities to discuss measures for controlling the sharp rise of Covid-19 cases.

Sanchez's announcement came after the Health Ministry confirmed last week that the 14-day incidence of Covid-19 had climbed to 511 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, returning to the level of a "very high risk" for the first time since early August, reports Xinhua news agency.

"We cannot accept this accumulated incidence as good," said Sanchez, highlighting the need to "intensify actions against the virus", and expressing the hope that "shared measures that can be implemented in the next few weeks" would be agreed.

The Prime Minister also highlighted the success of Spain's vaccination campaign, with 90 per cent of the population over 12 years being fully inoculated against the virus.

"Vaccination is the best weapon against the virus and we must persevere with it: get vaccinated, vaccinated and vaccinated," said Sanchez, adding other measures, such as wearing masks, have "also produced good results".

As of Monday, Spain's overall Covid caseload and death toll stood at 5,455,527 and 88,708, respectively.

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