Spain observes virus heroes, victims
Relatives of about 100 who died join at palace
MADRID — Spain paid tribute Thursday to the nation’s victims of the new coronavirus and workers who put their lives at risk during the worst of the pandemic with a solemn state ceremony in Madrid.
Relatives of around 100 people who died during the pandemic, representatives of medical personnel, police and other essential workers joined King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, government members and officials from the European Union and the World Health Organization at an esplanade in Madrid’s Royal Palace.
The guests, masked and seated in a socially distanced fashion surrounding a central cauldron, included representatives from a dozen religious organizations and ambassadors. The ceremony was shown live on television and online.
In an emotional speech, Hernando Calleja said he was sharing the pain of the loss of his brother José María, a well-known journalist and writer in Madrid, with other relatives of “anonymous” victims.
“Let’s not forget that the coronavirus was and continues to be a cold, cruel and wrecking executioner,” Calleja said.
Aroa López, a nurse from the
Vall d’hebron hospital in Barcelona, spoke representing workers in hospitals, health centers and laboratories, at least 52,600 of whom have been diagnosed as infected with the virus. She also remembered truck drivers, cleaners and thousands of others.
After telling how some health workers made video calls between relatives and dying patients, or held the hands of those who didn’t want to die alone, she urged politicians to protect the public health system.
“Who will take care of us if the person who takes care of us cannot do it?” she implored. “Let us never forget the lesson learned.”
As a live performance of string music took over from the words, attendees left white roses by the cauldron.
The country’s monarch praised the citizens’ response to the outbreak and called for responsible behavior in fighting the virus.
“We have a moral obligation to always recognize and respect the dignity of the deceased and a civic duty to promote the best values that underlie our society,” Felipe VI said before the ceremony came to an end with a minute of silence.
In other developments:
Israel’s prime minister said Thursday he is meeting with senior officials to discuss “interim steps” to try to contain a coronavirus surge without having the country return to a general lockdown as the number of new cases reaches record levels. Large demonstrations have erupted in recent days over Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the pandemic.
A museum in the Dutch city of Leiden finally opened an exhibition on contagious diseases through the ages on Thursday after a long delay caused by the disease currently sweeping the world — COVID-19. Dutch King Willem-alexander, who briefly self-isolated with his wife and three daughters as a precautionary measure after returning from a skiing vacation in Austria in March, opened the “Contagious!” exhibition at the Rijksmuseum Boerhaave.
Central African Republic’s health minister is blasting the “big inequality crisis” in coronavirus testing as he sees rich countries like Britain conduct scores of thousands of tests daily while his own struggles to obtain supplies for a couple of hundred at most. Pierre Somse told a World Health Organization briefing Thursday that “we are in a scarcity, a misery of tests.”
Brazil’s federal health ministry on Thursday evening reported that the country had passed 2 million confirmed cases of virus infections and 76,000 deaths.
Australia’s coronavirus hot spot, Victoria state, moved to increase available hospital beds Thursday and reported a record 317 new infections.