MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Spain appeals to the army to help expose people infected with coronavirus

Madrid will make 2,000 soldiers who are trained in tracking available to the regions, which are responsible for health care, to assist in tracking cases

Spain will call in the army to help identify those who have been exposed to people infected with coronavirus as part of efforts to curb the spread of the disease, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Tuesday.

The central government will make 2,000 soldiers who are trained in tracking available to the regions, which are responsible for health care, to assist in tracking cases and stem a rise in infections, he told a news conference.

“We could even increase this figure as required through the urgent training which we have planned,” Sanchez said.

Many experts have blamed a lack of virus trackers for a surge in COVID-19 infections in several Spanish regions such as Madrid and Catalonia.

Sanchez urged residents in Spain to use a smart-phone app designed by the government called RadarCovid which can identify people who have crossed paths with a contagious patient and alert them so they can get tested or be quarantined.

He also announced that regional authorities could ask the central government to apply a state of emergency, which would allow it to limit people's movements, on part or all of its territory.

The central government declared a nationwide state of emergency in mid-March which allowed it to impose one of the world's strictest lockdowns. It was only fully lifted on Jun 21.

While the rise in infections in Spain is “worrying”, it is “far from the situation in mid-March”, Sanchez said. “We can't let the pandemic to once again take control of our lives ... we must take control and halt this second curve.”

The country has more than 400,000 confirmed cases of the respiratory disease, the highest in western Europe, and one of the fastest growth rates on the continent. Nearly 29,000 people have died, one of the world's highest tolls.