Soaring Covid-19 cases & deaths in elderly care homes forces Spain’s Catalonia to ask for military help

AFTER initially refusing the military’s help, Catalonia has had to swallow its pride and ask Spain’s Unidad Militar de Emergencias (UME) for its help to deal with the soaring number of coronavirus (Covid-19) cases and deaths in the region’s elderly care homes.

Over 511 elderly people are reported to have died in Catalonia’s care homes from Covid-19, and another 1,221 are reported to be infected with the virus. Although Catalan’s Generalit government was initially against UME’s intervention in the region, the worsening crisis has left it with no choice but to ask for its help to disinfect 84 of the region’s care homes.

“If the Spanish army can help us, we would be most grateful,” stated Catalonia’s President Quim Torra, in an interview today. He admitted that mistakes have been made in the handling of elderly residencies amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has contributed to the alarming escalation of Covid-19 deaths and cases in care homes. “We didn’t inform the public of the situation in care homes with clarity from the beginning, as we should have,” he added.