Health workers in the Spanish capital protested on Tuesday (September 15) against the regional health authority's lack of support and demanding better working conditions.
Nurses and doctors stood outside Madrid's Gregorio Maranon hospital holding banners and chanting against regional leader Isabel Diaz Ayuso as they blocked roads near the hospital.
"We have a human problem, if health workers are already starting to get sick in September, we don't want to imagine what it will be like in December," ICU nurse Victor Aparicio told Reuters.
The World Health Organization reported a record one-day increase in global coronavirus cases on Sunday (September 13), with the total rising by 307,930 in 24 hours.
COVID-19 infections are still rising in 58 countries, including Spain.
A collective failure by political leaders to heed warnings and prepare for an infectious disease pandemic has transformed "a world at risk" to a "world in disorder," according to a report on international epidemic preparedness released on Monday (September 14).
The report noted that despite calling a year ago for heads of government to commit and invest in pandemic preparedness, for health systems to be strengthened and for financial risk planning to take seriously the threat of a devastating pandemic, little progress had been made on any of these.
(Source: Reuters)