The coordination meeting was attended by the Chief of Defense Staff, Miguel Ángel Villarroya; the Secretary of State, Ángel Olivares; the undersecretary of Defense, Alejo de la Torre; the Secretary General of Defense Policy, Admiral Juan Francisco Martínez Núñez; the commander of the Operations Command (MOPS), Lieutenant General Fernando López Del Pozo; the head of the Military Emergency Unit (UME), Lieutenant General Luis Martínez Meijide and the directors of the minister's cabinets.
Robles thanked "the role of the Armed Forces in this pandemic, their effort and their commitment to citizens, especially the most vulnerable." Something that "they should be tremendously proud of because they have helped and continue to help save lives."
The coordination team has decided that the ´Balmis´ structure will be preserved and an adequate level of reaction will be maintained against the demands and requests for action by the Armed Forces that continue to be requested. Training in disinfection will also be increased with different organizations of the Public Administrations.
At the end of the meeting, the minister wished to acknowledge the magnificent management, coordination, planning and deployment of the Armed Forces in the fight against COVID-19, and has presented a commemorative plaque to the commander of the Operations Command, Lt. Gen. Fernando López del Pozo, representing "all the men and women of the MOPS who, with the ´Balmis´ operation, have written a heroic page in the history of Spain, saving lives against COVID-19".
Operation ´Balmis´
Since the operation began, more than 155,000 components of the Armed Forces have fought against this pandemic. These troops have carried out, since last March 15 when they began their deployment, some 18,500 interventions, in more than 2,300 populations, operating in all the autonomous communities, both peninsular and insular, and in the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, and in all Spanish provinces.
More than 10,550 disinfections have been carried out, some 5,100 interventions in residences, more than 3,100 actions in hospitals and health centers and 1,100 interventions in social centers.
