On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) in response to the Coronavirus declared a global health emergency. As a result, Spain’s Central government declared a state of alarm on March 14. Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez said, “During the state of alarm, people will only be allowed out on to public streets for the following reasons: to buy food, basic or pharmaceutical items; to attend medical centers; to go to and from work; to look after children, older people or those with disabilities or who are especially vulnerable; and to attend financial or insurance offices on force majeure grounds.”
Under a coordinated and centralized initiative of the central government, which has the power, exclusively under this mandate to intervene in any company or utility in Spain, both public and private companies are voluntarily stepping up. As supplies of hand sanitizer, surgical masks, personal protective equipment (PPE) and hospital beds have become dangerously thin, many companies in Spain have re-purposed to fill the need. The most admirable contributions are coming from relatively small companies.
Ron Arehucas
For example, Ron Arehucas, a 128-year old rum and liquor distillery in the Canary Islands, joined the crusade against COVID-19, by offering its factory and stock, to the Spanish Department of Health. Instead of rum, they are now producing a 96% denatured alcohol-based solution which is used in gel hand sanitizers. Within 24 hours, they were able to produce and shipped 50,000 liters of their 1 Million capacity to the factory which combines it to make hand sanitizer.
Inditex
Inditex Fashion Group, owner of the behemoth fashion brand Zara, also joined the fight. The company will make its factories and logistics teams available to the Spanish government to donate masks for patients and workers alike. The company says that they will make a delivery at least once a week. It already donated 10,000 protective face masks and by the end of this week they will be shipping another 300,000 surgical masks. Other items that Inditex will be producing include gloves, protective glasses, cups, shoe covers, and face shields. As a global manufacturer, it does not yet know if it will be able to supply other countries with the items.
Hospitals are quickly becoming overrun with patients experiencing advanced COVID-19 symptoms. Demand for both regular and ICU beds has become a major issue. As a result, numerous alternatives to hospitals are being considered. Two of the most promising alternatives are Convention Centers and hotels. One such convention center in Madrid has been converted to a hospital with 3,000 beds and can be expanded to a total of 5,000. Over 40 hotels which represent another 9,000 beds, have also offered their collaboration to the government.
In a world stunned by a sneaky little virus, it is encouraging to see the successful collaboration of a country’s government and its public and private companies to ensure the overall health and well-being of its citizens in this crisis.