MADRID: Spain’s coronavirus toll overtook that of China on Wednesday, rising to 3,434 after another 738 people died as Madrid announced a multi-million-euro deal with Beijing for critical supplies.

The spike in fatalities means that across the globe, only Italy now has a higher death toll than Spain.

In China, where the virus emerged late last year, the Covid-19 epidemic has claimed 3,281 lives.

The latest figures were announced as Spain entered the 11th day of an unprecedented lockdown to try and rein in the deadly coronavirus outbreak that has now infected 47,610 people, the health ministry said.

The surge in numbers has brought the medical system to the brink of collapse, with Spain struggling with a lack of medical supplies for testing, treatment and the protection of frontline workers, and a growing number of cases among healthcare personnel with more than 5,400 infected.

The surge brings the medical system to the brink of collapse

To address the shortages, Health Minister Salvador Illa said the government had inked a major deal with China.

Worth some 432 million euros ($467 million), the deal will cover 550 million masks, 5.5 million rapid test kits, 950 respirators and 11 million pairs of gloves, he told a televised news conference. “We have secured entire production chains (in China) which will be working solely for the Spanish government,” he said. The supplies will be delivered “on a staggered basis, every week, with the first — a major delivery — arriving at the end of this week,” he said.

He also said Spain would continue producing its own materials on a national level. The announcement came a day after Spain’s armed forces asked Nato for humanitarian assistance to secure supplies to help curb the spread of the virus both in the military and in the civilian population. The request specified 450,000 respirators, 500,000 rapid testing kits, 500 ventilators and 1.5 million surgical masks. Despite the national lockdown imposed on March 14, which is to be extended until April 11, both deaths and infections have continued to mount, with officials warning this week would be particularly bad.

“We are approaching the peak,” the ministry’s emergencies coordinator Fernando Simon said in announcing the figures. Health authorities are hoping it will soon become clear whether the lockdown is having the desired effect.

The Madrid region has suffered the brunt of the epidemic with 14,597 infections — just under a third of the total — and 1,825 deaths, or 53 percent of the national figure.

With hospitals on the brink of collapse, troops have set up a massive field hospital in Madrid’s vast IFEMA exhibition centre which currently has 1,500 beds but which could be expanded to take in up to 5,500 people — making it the largest hospital in Spain. And with the city’s funeral services overwhelmed, officials have commandeered the Palacio de Hielo ice skating rink to serve as a temporary morgue.

In a separate development, unions have been up in arms over a decision by Airbus to resume production in Spain, despite the outbreak, saying it endangered workers’ lives.

So far, a total of 138 employees have tested positive for the virus with hundreds more in quarantine, but the European plane-maker has insisted it would resume production on Monday, prompting unions to call an indefinite strike.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2020