Italy and Spain now have over 6,000 deaths from coronavirus: Populists ignored

Italy and Spain now have over 6,000 deaths from coronavirus: Populists ignored

Kanako Mita and Lee Jay Walker

Modern Tokyo Times

The coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis in Italy and Spain is witnessing more daily deaths in both nations. In time, the tide will change but by this time the number of deaths will be truly alarming. After all, just over 6,000 people have already perished from coronavirus.

In Italy, the mounting death toll is putting enormous strains on the health care system. For Lombardy, the worse hit area, further restrictions will be enforced to try to stem the crisis. However, with more than 3,000 deaths alone in Lombardy then one can only imagine the trauma of countless people.

Like Italy, the gradual number of deaths is also rising quickly in Spain. Thus, in Italy, the death toll is more than 4,800 people, while in Spain it is now over 1,300 people. Therefore, both nations are suffering beyond imagination and with little end in sight at the moment.

The Independent reports about Spain by stating, “More than 1,600 patients across the country are in intensive care units that authorities admit are at their limits.”

Reuters stipulates, “The capital has become the epicenter of the disease in Spain. With nearly 20,000 cases reported as of Friday, Spain overtook Iran to become the world’s third hardest-hit country by the pandemic after China and Italy. The Madrid region accounts for 628 deaths and 7,165 cases.”

Fernando Simon, the Chief of Health Emergencies in Spain, summed up the gravity of the situation after stating, “The most difficult days are coming now.”

Returning to Italy, some politicians on the right warned the leader of Italy to take action. However, some liberals were more concerned about self-righteousness and civil liberties. Hence, the New York Times reports, “…in January, some officials on the right were urging Mr. Conte, their former ally and now political enemy, to quarantine schoolchildren in the northern regions who were returning from holidays in China, a measure aimed at protecting schools. Many of those children were from Chinese immigrant families.”

Therefore, early opportunities to contain the coronavirus crisis in Italy were missed. Sadly, many nations seem to be replicating this even if they escape the same severity. Thus, internal and external population control over movement is essential. Likewise, in areas hit hardest then isolation needs to be enforced rapidly to stem the spread of the coronavirus. Similarly, measures to stop the normal interaction of people can’t afford to lag behind the spread of coronavirus. After all, if catch up time occurs then mounting deaths will become the reality.

In fairness to Italy, then political elites had little measure to go by apart from watching events from a distance in China. However, certain right-leaning politicians should have been listened to because the spread seemed inevitable given the initial laxness.

Overall, it appears that more people will perish in Italy and Spain before the coronavirus crisis abates in both nations. Likewise, more European nations will witness the ongoing nightmare. Meanwhile, internationally, it appears only a matter of time that a new region or continent will witness the nightmare of coronavirus.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/21/world/europe/italy-coronavirus-center-lessons.html

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-spain/spain-to-treat-thousands-of-coronavirus-patients-in-conference-hall-as-toll-tops-1000-idUSKBN2172KO

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/coronavirus-spain-death-toll-cases-rise-latest-a9415831.html