BARCELONA — Spain passed a grim milestone on Friday when it became the second European country to report over 1,000 coronavirus deaths, a mark that Italy passed a week ago, with the country’s doctors warning that the health system may soon be overwhelmed, just as in Italy. Across Europe, where there have been well over 100,000 cases and nearly 6,000 deaths, nations are preparing in the face of the growing crisis — shoring up hospital resources and planning for an influx of new cases in the coming days. Taking an emergency economic measure that would have been unimaginable just weeks ago, the European Commission on Friday announced that it had triggered the so-called “general escape clause,” a panic button that lifts stringent spending rules and allows countries to run big deficits to respond to a crisis. It is the first time in the history of the European Union that the clause has been used, throwing out the window the strictures of fiscal orthodoxy that stipulate low deficits and small debts.

Source: New York Times March 20, 2020 19:49 UTC