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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez spoke to the nation on Tuesday evening to give a "message of calm" over fears of the spread of the coronavirus in Spain.
"I want to send a message of confidence to the Spanish people," said Sanchez after a cabinet meeting.
"In order to combat this public health emergency, we will do everything that is needed, where it is needed and when it is needed," he added.
The cabinet meeting came after the country's COVID-19 infections have risen drastically from 150 a week ago to over 1,600 on Tuesday, while 35 deaths have been confirmed as a result of the virus.
The Spanish leader said that the coming weeks were likely to be difficult, "but we are going to get over this."
He called on people to "cooperate by following the recommendations that the experts give us."
The Spanish Ibex-35 stock market has lost over 10 percent of its value over the past two days. Sanchez admitted that the economy would suffer a "serious" impact because of the virus, but he said the effect would be "transitory".
He said his government had asked the European Union for measures to promote liquidity in order to help small and medium sized companies through the crisis.
Spanish government announced on Tuesday further measures to combat the virus with all sporting events to be held behind closed doors.
Meanwhile Spain has also banned all flights from Italy for two weeks, and closed schools and colleges in the regions of Madrid and la Rioja for the next two weeks.
In Madrid, where almost 800 cases of COVID-19 cases have been confirmed, libraries, sports centers and concert halls have been closed.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
