Following Italy, Spain is the second most-affected European country by the coronavirus, with over 56,000 reported cases and at least 4,000 deaths since mid-February (more than in China), and is now facing a serious crisis in its’ retirement homes.
Last Monday, the Spanish Defense Minister, Margarita Robles said that the army had discovered elderly people left to fend for themselves, as well as bodies of residents still in their beds, in retirement homes in Spain.
According to the protocol, if a coronavirus is suspected, a body cannot be moved until the doctors and the funeral home workers arrive, but these services are currently completely overwhelmed.
The Defense Minister declared: “We will be relentless and unyielding for the way people are treated in these homes.”
The Health Minister, Salvador Illa, also said: “Residences for the elderly are an absolute priority for the government; we have now mobilized all possible means to support and control these retirement homes.”
The elderly are the population most at risk of dying from coronavirus. In France, there is a serious concern for the approximately 850,000 people in retirement homes. The “SYNERPA” (National Union of Private Homes and Residences for the Elderly) has requested that an “EHPAD” emergency unit be established to handle critical situations.
