Could Spain’s COVID-19 response provide a roadmap for the United States?

This appeared in The Millennial Source

On Monday, March 9, the Spanish government announced it would be closing schools for two weeks in regions badly affected by the rapidly spreading coronavirus. The following day, United States President Donald Trump was seeking to downplay the situation, assuring Americans that COVID-19 would “go away” and promising “a lot of good things are going to happen.”

Just days later, all of Spain was locked down and Trump declared a national emergency as the pandemic worsened. The rapid progression of the virus’ spread caught many countries unaware.

But now, more than a month after much of the world went into lockdown, Spain is preparing to ease restrictions and many states within the US are facing pressure to reopen.

With Spain one of the hardest-hit Western countries, their path out of lockdown may offer the US a roadmap for the possibilities, and pitfalls, of reopening the country.

Spain enters lockdown

When Spain announced the two-week school closures, the country had just experienced a doubling of infections. There were nearly 2,300 cases and 55 deaths. A week later, the number of deaths was five times that and increasing…