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MADRID (KDVR) — A Denver law professor on sabbatical in Spain believes the country has been far more aggressive than the United States in combating the coronavirus.

“The U.S. may need to start taking some really hard medicine as a country in a more unified way to really put this behind it. Otherwise, the desire to get back to work will mean this lingers on and flares back up,” said John Campbell, who teaches at the Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver.

Campbell, his wife and their sons (ages 9 and 7) have been living in Madrid since August. All four came down with symptoms of COVID-19 about a month ago, just before Spain went into quarantine on March 14.

“In Spain, this is a culture where people hug and kiss, so even just the close physical contact was accelerating the virus,” said Campbell, who said his entire family has since recovered.

On Friday, Spain announced a 17-day low in daily deaths. It has recorded 16,000 deaths, but has since been bypassed by the United States, which now has more than 18,000 deaths as of Friday afternoon.

The U.S. population is about 328 million; Spain’s is about 47 million.

Campbell said he believes aggressive stay-at-home orders helped turn the tide for Spain, which is believed to have seen the peak of the coronavirus outbreak on March 29.

“For example, my family has not left the house for any reason other than to buy groceries since March 14,” said Campbell, who added police have set up roadblocks in Spain to ensure people are only out for essential reasons.

“There’s been hundreds of thousands of tickets around Spain for people who said, ‘Oh, I’m going to the grocery store,’ but they were 4 kilometers from their house.” 

As for grocery stores, Campbell said there was never any hoarding of toilet paper or grocery supplies, unlike in Colorado and across the U.S., because he said the Spanish government made it clear it would regulate the supply chain.

“There was clear communication early so you understood you would still be able to go to the store, so why do you need to buy it all now?”

While his American friends share stories of anxiety, Campbell said he hasn’t heard a single Spaniard use the word “stress” to describe their state of mind.

“It is a place where everyone has health care even if you are dirt poor, even if you live on the street,” said Campbell, who said the government doesn’t just guarantee health insurance, but job security for its workforce. “You’re seeing either a full or almost full guarantee of your salary.”

On April 26, Spain has plans to slowly open up again, though masks and social distancing will still be strongly encouraged.

“I think what we are learning from Spain is that aggressive measures will work. They require sacrifice, but then they will start driving down numbers, and that will give you real hope,” said Campbell.