NATO announced in a statement that Spain's military had asked for international assistance in their response to the global pandemic of the coronavirus COVID-19.

“The Armed Forces of Spain are acting in favor of civil population to mitigate the virus spread. In order to prevent the spread of the virus in the military units of the Armed Forces of Spain and in the civil population, international partners are asked to provide assistance to the Ministry of Defense of Spain in supplying humanitarian assistance,” the statement said.

According to the statement, the request included 450,000 respirators, 500,000 rapid testing kits, 500 ventilators and 1.5 million surgical masks.

Spain has been one of the worst-hit countries, logging the third highest number of deaths after China and Italy.

As of 24 March 2020, there have been 42,058 confirmed cases with 3,794 recoveries and 2,991 deaths in Spain according to authorities.

At least 2,636 people hospitalized are in intensive care, including 1,050 in the Community of Madrid and more than 350,000 tests for COVID-19 have been conducted in the country. (ILKHA)