By Nathan Allen and Ingrid Melander
MADRID (Reuters) – The surging death toll from the coronavirus epidemic in Spain drove a regional health official to tears on Wednesday, while Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez predicted an economic slump, urging all to rally in what he called a “war” against the virus.
With nearly 560 deaths, Spain is Europe’s second-worst hit country after Italy and has the world’s fourth highest number of cases, at 13,716 on Wednesday.
In a sign of the mounting emotional pressure, the director of health in the Aragon region, Javier Marion, broke down in tears during a news conference, a video posted online by several local media showed.
Aragon had 13 dead and 226 infected as of Wednesday.
Meanwhile, prosecutors in Madrid opened an investigation into a nursing home where at least 17 residents have died from coronavirus since Friday.
“We have never lived through anything like this. And our society, which had grown used to changes that expand our possibilities of knowledge, health and life, now finds itself in a war to defend all we have taken for granted,” the prime minister told a near-empty parliament.
“It is clear that annual GDP will fall … 2020 will not have 12 months, but 10 or even nine,” Sanchez said.
Between speeches, a masked and gloved cleaner climbed the stairs leading to the speaker’s platform wiping down the handrails, as well as the table and microphones.
To avoid spreading the infection in parliament, there were only 28 lawmakers and five ministers to listen to Sanchez in a chamber that normally houses 350.
“A LITTLE BIT SCARED”
A 38-year-old Uber Eats rider from Venezuela, Dennys Martin Gomez Acevedo, told Reuters that even though he was aware of the risks he was taking by continuing to deliver food amid the coronavirus outbreak, he couldn’t stop working.
“I am a little bit scared because we know what the virus implies,” he said.
“The majority of (clients) say ‘oh thank you man, to keep working and keep the country going’, and there are others that you can tell are a bit more scared. They open the door and say ‘don’t touch the door, keep a distance for your health and for mine, so we need to manage all these situations.”
As the coronavirus tally worsened, Britain advised all its tourists to leave Spain by Tuesday, while Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya reassured all foreign visitors that the government would help them return home.
Speaking via a video news conference, Gonzalez Laya asked the 2.7 million Spaniards living abroad to stay where they are, adding that those who wanted to come back would be screened to be helped depending on their needs.
Inmates at a migrant detention center in Madrid climbed onto the roof and began a hunger strike to protest over the authorities’ failure to contain the outbreak, according to a letter published by an NGO that represents the migrants.
Police on Wednesday requisitioned some 69,000 surgical masks and more than 5,000 protective goggles and gloves to be transferred to health workers.
Most of the equipment was confiscated at ports and airports, while the Civil Guard police force seized more than 1,000 masks in Zaragoza that were going to be sold illegally via an online auction.
Some 73 people have been arrested for breaching restrictions on freedom of movement.
Spain initially took few steps to combat the crisis, only moving abruptly to shut down shops and curb public life just over a week ago as the number of cases started soaring.
The government announced a 200 billion euros ($220 billion) package on Tuesday to help companies and protect workers and vulnerable groups affected by the crisis.
European Central Bank vice-president Luis de Guindos welcomed the measures. “It’s going in the right direction …,” he told public radio RNE.
(Additional reporting by Inti Landauro, Emma Pinedo, Juan Medina, Jesus Aguado, Jessica Jones, Raul Cadenas, Julien Hennequin; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Gareth Jones)
