Coronavirus: ‘Spain Has Existential Fear It’s The Next Apocalyptic Italy’

NEW DELHI: Imran Garda, host of ‘The Newsmakers’ on TRT World speaks to StratNews Global Associate Editor Amitabh P. Revi on Spain having the world’s second-highest number of people killed by the Coronavirus after Italy and why the health minister says there’s a ‘glimmer of hope. The journalist addresses the issues of whether Spain was too relaxed initially— allowing a major outdoor march and fans to travel for the Valencia-Atalanta UEFA Champions League tie (which was eventually played in a closed stadium), 20 per cent of Spain’s population being over 60 years old, why a world-class healthcare system is overstretched with over 700 people dying every day in some regions, the problems of coordination between Madrid and 17 autonomous regions and the inability to switch to emergency medical equipment in sufficient numbers in the war against Covid-19. Imran Garda also outlines how Turkey reported the first positive case relatively later but why the hope is that a lockdown will help flatten the curve faster.

Imran Garda has worked with Al Jazeera and AJ+. His debut novel ‘The Thunder That Roars’ was awarded the 2015 Olive Schreiner Prize for Prose.