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The Spanish Government and people are waging together the "battle" against the novel coronavirus, which is a wake-up call regarding the vulnerabilities of societies, states the Spanish Ambassador to Bucharest, Manuel Larrotcha, in a material sent to AGERPRES.
The ambassador states that "the Spanish government and the entire Spanish society is passing through tragic and extremely hard moments," and the national effort is extraordinary.
Furthermore, Manuel Larrotcha appeals to unity, because "COVID-19 is a global pandemic and, that is why, until we are all safe, nobody will be safe. The entirety of humanity is in the same boat and if that boat sinks, we all drown. That is why it's necessary for all the countries to join forces and to support mechanisms of international cooperation."
The diplomat claims that this crisis is "graver and more profound" than that of 2008 and will leave deep scars in our societies and pleads for the need to coordinate at the European level.
Larrotcha says "the International Community is faced with a health, economic and social crisis without precedent and in order to face it immediate, courageous and efficient measures must be adopted, even if they sometimes seem too drastic. It's about not only ensuring the protection of people who are living in Spain, but being responsible towards the rest of the world to defeat together this global threat. In this sense, Spain, which has one of the best healthcare systems in the world, is adopting measures to increase the capacity of hospitals, mobilizing in this purpose all the available resources," the ambassador states.
Furthermore, the diplomat claims that the actions of the Spanish government "were permanently based on scientific criteria, following the recommendations of the World Health organization and the experts qualified in this domain." "The Spanish Government has acted with maximum transparency, because each recorded death matters," Manuel Larrotcha points out.
The diplomat also speaks of those who are most vulnerable in front of this virus.
"Spain is one of the countries with an advanced life expectancy, and this virus unfortunately hit the elderly the hardest. The Spanish Government has adopted 'ad hoc' measures to try and protect this group which is so vulnerable. The workers in elderly care homes are doing everything possible in these hard and limited circumstances and deserve our gratitude for their effort," the ambassador showed.
Furthermore, Manuel Larrotcha speaks also of the challenges the Spanish medical system is facing in regards to the virus.
"In front of the magnitude and quickness which the epidemic is spreading with, the Spanish healthcare system could not provide at first sufficient protection equipment to those involved in the direct combating of the virus. The Health and the Industry Ministries have conducted a huge effort not only to acquire this equipment from abroad (Spain acquired 500 million masks, 11 million gloves, 6 million rapid diagnosis kits and 1,200 ventilators), but also to mobilize and reorganize part of the national industry in order to fabricate these equipment and to try and ensure sufficient self-supply in order to guarantee an adequate response to future pandemics," the diplomat shows.
The Ambassador of Spain in Bucharest also refers in his message to the moment the COVID-19 crisis will be over.
"When the crisis will pass, we will have time to meditate. COVID-19 is certainly a (wake-up call) that comes to show us how vulnerable our societies are. The instruments we hold to fight against this virus are not global. Perhaps that is exactly why it would be adequate to take into account the possibility of using this crisis to reconfigure the global governance system, now, on the anniversary of 75 years since the creation of the United Nations Organization," Manuel Larrotcha said.
