Laika boss: Spain’s coronavirus czar spurs memes online after accidentally resurrecting Soviet Union

Spain’s leading public health crisis management official has inadvertently seized the memes of production by accidentally resurrecting the Soviet Union.

During a question and answer session, Fernando Simon, director of Spain's Center for the Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies (CCAES), delivered the rather damning news of 16,000 new coronavirus cases over the weekend, 1,833 of which occurred in the previous 24 hours. 

He then added some unexpected hammer and tickle to the situation by referring to the Covid-19 vaccines being produced in the United States, Europe, China... and, of course, the Soviet Union. Wait, what?

The off-the-cuff reference was a big red flag for some social media users, who couldn't resist poking fun – jokes about communism aren't funny unless you share them with everyone, after all.

Indeed, Simon repeated the gaffe a short time later during the same press conference, claiming that “Soviet and Chinese trials” were underway. 

He added that he doesn't believe a vaccine will reach the European market before November. 

“There are several [vaccines] at an advanced stage of development, and it's clear that production is under way while final testing is conducted. Once the results are released the vaccines will be made available to at-risk groups,” the Spanish health chief said. 

The one-time epicenter of the pandemic in Europe currently has over 359,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection, with a Covid-19 death toll of over 28,600, according to the latest figures from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. 

As a result of the latest spike in cases, a number of extreme measures have been implemented, including a ban on smoking outdoors and a much more widespread requirement to wear masks.

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