Spanish minister reveals elderly people found 'dead in homes' amid COVID-19 crisis

While Spain has resorted to its army to stem the drastic spread of deadly coronavirus which has rocked the entire world, a Spanish minister recently said in a televised interview that elderly people have been found “abandoned” and “dead in their beds”. The country’s defence minister, Margarita Robles made the revelation when the country recorded a further rise in the virus infections and the fatalities which are currently more than 2,300.

Robles said on March 23 that the members of the specialist Military Emergencies Unit had found the corpses as they carried out their duties while the health authorities have also distributed at least 650,000 rapid testing kits. She further added that such inhumane treatment of elderly people would not be tolerated and people who have been ignored their responsibilities will be executed. Robles said, “full weight of the law” will fall on those who fail to meet their obligations. 

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A makeshift morgue in Spain

The rising death toll in Spain has placed a strain on both the medical facilities in the country and the funeral homes around Madrid. The sudden plunges in the fatalities of COVID-19 have even led to the health authorities to set up a makeshift morgue at the Palacio de Hielo which is a large rice ink in the north-east of the capital. The regional government even said on March 23 that the arrangement was “temporary and extraordinary” with an intention to mitigate the pain of victim’s families and the situation in Madrid’s hospitals. Meanwhile, testing kits are also being issued for the medical staff on the frontline of the pandemic as at least 12 per cent of all country’s confirmed cases are those of medical workers. 

The coronavirus which originated in China in December 2019 has now claimed over 16,558 lives worldwide as of March 24. According to the tally by international news agency, the pandemic has now spread to 195 countries and has infected at least 381,761 people. Out of the total infections, 102,429 have been recovered but the easily spread virus is continuing to disrupt many lives. Major cities have been put under lockdown in almost all countries, and the economy is struggling. Meanwhile, Spain has recorded over 35,100 infections of COVID-19.

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