Spain turns Madrid’s ice rink into temporary morgue to cope with surge in coronavirus deaths

Madrid’s ice rink has been converted into a temporary morgue to cope with the surge in the country’s death toll due to the coronavirus (COVID-19). Spain’s death toll surpassed 2,182 on Monday as it lost another 462 people in just 24 hours from the disease.

According to Madrid’s Town Hall, this exceptional measure had to be taken because many of the city’s public cemeteries are already at full capacity, and those that aren’t full yet, simply don’t have the protective gear for staff to receive the bodies.

The ice rink is located in a shopping centre in Madrid’s Hortaleza neighbourhood, not far from the City’s Ifema Congress Centre, which has been converted into a field hospital with around 5,500 beds to care for coronavirus patients.

The armed forces are reported to have already started to help transport the dead bodies on Monday evening to the ‘temporary’ morgue at the ice rink.