Spain tops fourth in the list of highest COVID-19 affected countries in the world right now. There are more than 35,100 cases with more than 2,300 deaths in Spain alone, 6,368 COVID-19 cases were freshly added on Monday with 539 deaths added. We have seen reports of lack of coffins, and even cemeteries and morgues. On the same day, the country's defence minister reported finding dead and abandoned bodies of elderly in Spain.
The country's Madrid government was forced to turn an ice skating rink into a morgue as the COVID-19's deceased body count continues to outrun existing services. Municipal funeral homes were closed as there were 'lack of protective gear and masks' while dead bodies piled up in public hospitals and private homes, reported The Olive Press. This led the agreement of the City Council, military and regional government to turn the Ice Palace into the 'great morgue' of the capital.
Rising COVID-19 deaths
Margarita Robles, Spain's defence minister said that specialist Military Emergencies Unit members had found the corpses during their duty, "some old people completely abandoned, sometimes even dead in their beds" she told the Ana Rosa TV programme. "We are going to be strict and inflexible when dealing with the way old people are treated in these residences," she said.
Madrid's ice rink
The ice rink is used as a leisure centre which also holds ice skating championships. The rink spans about 1,800 square kilometre. The rink is contained within a shopping complex with shops and restaurants. "We know that it is a very delicate issue, but there was no other option... it is a necessary reaction. Hospitals and crematoriums cannot cope with more," the Madrid City Council said.
The ice rink is kept at a temperature of zero degrees, will hold the bodies to alleviate the work of the crematoriums. However, the measure were already discussed several days ago, at a time when COVID-19 caused a collapse at the Madrid morgues. A City Council spokesperson said, "Logically speaking it is an ideal place to keep corpses as due to the conditions, decomposition will be avoided," reported El Espanol. Monday, the Madrid region saw an overall 10.575 coronavirus cases and 1,263 deaths.
