Spain PM says army will be called in to help fight COVID-19 amid 'worrying' surge in cases

Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, Spain’s Prime minister on August 25 announced that the army would be deployed to help regional governments in their fight against COVID-19. 2,000 army soldiers that are responsible for health care will be made available to various regions and the troop are expected to assist the regions in tackling the coronavirus.

Spain making preparations for the worst

Spain is currently gearing up for the beginning of the school year in September. The country fears a surge in coronavirus cases and as a precautionary measure has imposed several new measures such as bans on social gatherings.

As per reports, Spain’s Health Ministry in the last three days has reported 19,000 new virus cases. Spain has now reported a total of over 400,000 positive virus cases and has the highest number of cases in Europe. Spain has also reported a death toll of over 28,000. The Catalonia region in Spain has a ban on gatherings of more than 10 people while Murcia which is located in Spain’s southern coast has restricted gatherings to six people.

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Read: Spain Adds Thousands Of New Coronavirus Cases

The COVID-19 pandemic which saw its first outbreak in a wet market in Wuhan, China last year has now spread all across the world. The virus, named COVID-19 by the World Health Organisation, has infected over 23 million people worldwide with the global death toll reaching over 800,000.

As per the John Hopkins coronavirus resource centre, the United States has reported a total of at least 5.7 million positive virus cases and has a death toll of 177,279. The US currently has the highest number of reported cases in the world, making it the epicentre of the deadly virus.

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Read: COVID-19: Worrisome Rise In Daily Number Of New Cases In Spain