By Marco Aquino
LIMA (Reuters) – Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra on Wednesday extended the country’s state of emergency declared to contain the novel coronavirus for two more weeks to April 26.
Vizcarra announced the extension, which includes a nationwide quarantine in the world’s second largest copper producer, as it reached 2,954 confirmed cases of the virus and 107 deaths. The first confirmed case in Peru was on March 6.
“We cannot let our guard down, we cannot reduce the effort we are making and the gains we are achieving just as we reach the most difficult stage,” Vizcarra said in a speech broadcast on television.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino, writing by Aislinn Laing; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
