Spain, the European country currently with the most confirmed cases of COVID-19 on the continent, has asked for a global response to the pandemic in hopes of kickstarting its economy.
“We need a global strategy to jumpstart our economies when they get out of the freezer. We are pushing for a global response to the global threat,” Santiago Cabanas, Spain’s ambassador to the United States, told Politico.
Cabanas has reportedly leaned on the U.S. to back global response, saying that the world’s democracies must be seen as united in the fight against the deadly virus. He also said that Spain would help countries who have lagged in their response to the virus, stating that efforts to contain and eradicate the virus in America and Europe will be undone if they are not helped.
“It’s in our interest that we support countries like Iran or Venezuela, irrespective of the nature of the regimes,” Cabanas said. “Health is a public good that we should all preserve all over the world.”
With almost 162,000 cases, Spain has the second-highest total in the world behind the U.S., according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
On Thursday, governments of the European Union agreed on $600 billion of emergency credit, but some countries, such as the Netherlands, refused to issue joint bonds for the aid.
Spain is slated to stay on lockdown until at least April 25.