Doctors and nurses in the fight against COVID-19, Princess of Asturias Award

USPA NEWS - The Spanish doctors and nurses that work on the front line against COVID-19 have been awarded the 2020 Princess of Asturias Award for Concord, as announced by the jury in charge of its concession on Wednesday. The jury for this award - convened by the Princess of Asturias Foundation - was chaired by Adrián Barbón Rodríguez, President of the Principality of Asturias, and made up of 43 personalities from Spanish social life. Exceptionally, due to the health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting was held by videoconference.

Health professionals "in direct contact with patients affected by COVID-19 form the first line in the fight against this disease in Spain and have demonstrated, since this health emergency began, a commendable level of professionalism and commitment," said the jury explaining their decision. “Exposed to a high and aggressive viral load, their unconditional surrender, facing long working hours without sometimes having the proper equipment and material means, according to complaints from professional and union organizations in the sector, represents an exercise in vocation of service and exemplary citizenship. With an outstanding spirit of personal sacrifice in favor of public health and the well-being of society as a whole, they have already become a symbol of the fight against the greatest global pandemic that has plagued humanity in the last century," he added the jury.

Professionals in medicine, nursing, auxiliaries and other health system personnel who have directly treated infected patients and have carried out their work in the main areas of struggle against coronavirus disease offer, with the performance of their work, an example of the most estimated human values. From primary care centers to large hospital complexes, both public and private, this large group has placed itself at the forefront of a fight in which other organizations, companies and, in a very special way, are also intensely involved, the Army and the Police and the Civil Guard, as well as the local police.

“The effort of the Spanish sanitarians against COVID-19 has enabled them to attend to a very high number of cases of infected patients and fatalities, even carrying out, beyond their obligations, a task of profound humanity when accompanying hospitalized patients and people whose family members could not be present in their last hours of life. This responsibility has put their own personal health at risk, to the point of being the group most affected by the pandemic in our country, reaching more than 50,000 infected and more than 60 deaths, according to data provided by the Alerts Coordination Center and Health Emergencies,“ stressed the jury.

Emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, the disease COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus, was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2009 Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation) in the month of March and already affects more than six million people in more than 180 countries. In this context, Spain is one of those with the most virulence to have suffered its impact, with 239,479 patients diagnosed on June 1. The WHO itself has praised the work of Spanish health workers through its director for Europe, the German Hans Klugge, who said, about the situation in Spain, feeling "deeply impressed by the heroism of front-line workers."

The Princess of Asturias Awards are intended, according to its Regulations, to award “the scientific, technical, cultural, social and humanitarian work carried out by people, institutions, groups of people or institutions in the international arena.“ In accordance with these principles, the Princess of Asturias Award for Concord is awarded to "the work of defense and generalization of human rights, the promotion and protection of peace, freedom, solidarity, world heritage and, in general, of the progress of humanity.“

In this edition, a total of 35 candidates from 19 countries participated in the Concord award. Each of the Princess of Asturias Awards is endowed with a sculpture by Joan Miró - a representative symbol of the award - a diploma, a badge and the cash amount of 50,000 Euros.