Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem donate gloves and masks to hospital workers

The screen-star couple say they hope to be able to donate more 'in the coming weeks'.

Penélope said on Instagram that the pair had been hunting high and low to get hold of protective gear for health workers.

“Thanks to Inditex's transport help, we've finally been able to buy 100,000 nitrile gloves [a material used instead of latex, since this can irritate sensitive skin], and 20,000 FFP2-type masks, which have now just reached La Paz hospital.”

She says she and Javier are 'hopeful' that they will 'shortly be able to donate more of these materials which are so necessary in this crisis', even, she adds, 'despite the enormous difficulties in obtaining them and getting them to their destination'.

Penélope had plenty of praise for the healthcare workers on the front line: “Thank you to all those anonymous heroines and heroes who put their own health at risk to help cure, and keep healthy, all the rest of us. Thank you!”

Other celebrities who have helped out with the Coronavirus epidemic, in Spain and beyond, are numerous – former number one tennis star Novak Djoković has given a multi-million sum to his native Serbia to cover protective gear and vital medical equipment, among other necessary elements; designer Ralph Lauren and actress Dame Angelina Jolie have also handed over millions to aid in the fight against the spread of the respiratory virus which, although proving curable, is described by scientists as being 10 times more risky to health than seasonal 'flu, can be deadly in anyone with pre-existing medical conditions, the elderly or even the middle-aged, and which at present has no vaccine.

The photograph, posted by Penélope on her Instagram account (penelopecruzoficial), shows the huge haul of masks and gloves stored and ready to ship to the hospital in Madrid, hers and Javier's native city.