Spanish soldiers deployed to help fight the coronavirus outbreak have found elderly people abandoned, and sometimes dead from the disease, at retirement homes, Spain’s defence minister said Monday.

“We are going to be strict and unflexible when dealing with the way old people are treated in these residences,” Defence Minister Margarita Robles said during an interview with private television channel Telecinco.

“The army, during certain visits, found some old people completely abandoned, sometimes even dead in their beds,” she added.

The army has been charged with helping to disinfect retirement homes in Spain, one of the countries worst hit by the pandemic. Dozens of deaths have been recorded due to the disease at facilities across the country.

The coronavirus death toll in Spain surged to 2,182 on Monday after 462 people died within 24 hours, according to health ministry figures.

The elderly are especially vulnerable in the global pandemic and officials around the world are increasingly calling for extreme measures to safeguard them.