LISBON, March 31 (Xinhua) -- The Portuguese parliament approved on Wednesday the renewal of the mandatory use of masks in public spaces until June 13 to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

"The maintenance of the situation of public calamity due to the existing pandemic, which has determined the successive renewals of the state of emergency, strongly discourages the relaxation of the adopted measures," said the legislators.

The approved bill provides that refusing to wear a mask in public spaces is liable for a fine of between 100 euros (about 117.3 U.S. dollars) and 500 euros (586.2 dollars).

Portugal recorded three deaths and 618 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the national counts to 16,848 and 821,722 respectively.

According to the World Health Organization, face masks should be used as part of a comprehensive strategy of measures to suppress COVID-19 transmission and save lives. Enditem