Ecuador coronavirus crisis in Guayaquil brings fear in the path of death
Chika Mori and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
The city of Guayaquil in Ecuador is the current epicenter of coronavirus (Covid-19) in this country. In recent days growing reports indicate a major crisis, whereby bodies are being left outside on the streets. Therefore, fear is stalking Guayaquil because with each new day more bodies are being sent to makeshift morgues.
Officially, the death toll is 318 deaths in Ecuador but unofficially the real figure is much higher. Reports state that at least 100 bodies had been collected each day from families in the last week.
President Lenin Moreno is visibly shocked by the speed of the coronavirus outbreak. He is equally concerned about the social and economic impact of coronavirus. However, for many people in Ecuador, the leader was too slow to understand the seriousness of the situation.
Reuters reports, “Ecuador has confirmed 318 deaths from the virus, one of the highest tallies in Latin America. But President Lenin Moreno said this week that the real figure was higher as authorities were collecting more than 100 bodies a day, many from relatives’ homes as a strict quarantine prevented them from being buried.”
Moreno uttered, “When the virus appeared in China, we thought it would never reach here… Now it’s in all of us. We are breathing it. It’s in the atmosphere.”
Otto Sonnenholzner, the Vice-President, apologized to people on television for the horrifying images of dead bodies being left outside. This applies to horrendous images showing bodies outside the homes of the departed or being left on pavements in the city of Guayaquil.
Sonnenholzner uttered, “This crisis isn’t about left or right. Rich or poor. This virus doesn’t care for religion, race or social status. All it seeks to do is spread. Its transmission risk is something never before seen by humanity.”
The Daily Mirror reports, “Hospitals have no beds left available for sick patients, while morgues, cemeteries and funeral homes are also nearing capacity.”
Internationally, the focus in recent days is the growing coronavirus death toll in New York. However, for the people of Ecuador, the infrastructure is already weak and poverty blights the nation. Therefore, untold suffering is happening in Guayaquil and the fear is that the coronavirus crisis will further spread in this nation.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/bodies-left-streets-coronavirus-leaves-21818324
PLEASE DONATE TO HELP MODERN TOKYO TIMES
Modern Tokyo News is part of the Modern Tokyo Times group
DONATIONS to SUPPORT MODERN TOKYO TIMES – please pay PayPal and DONATE to sawakoart@gmail.com
http://moderntokyotimes.com Modern Tokyo Times – International News and Japan News
http://sawakoart.com – Sawako Utsumi personal website and Modern Tokyo Times artist
https://moderntokyonews.com Modern Tokyo News – Tokyo News and International News
PLEASE JOIN ON TWITTER
https://twitter.com/MTT_News Modern Tokyo Times
PLEASE JOIN ON FACEBOOK