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Ecuador: No Place To Hide


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2020 Apr 21, 6:11am   699 views  5 comments

by ohomen171   ➕follow (2)   💰tip   ignore  

#ecuadorcoronavirustragedyECUADOR

Nowhere to Rest
The coronavirus is creating few tragedies worse than Ecuador’s.

A few weeks ago, Eduardo Javier Barrezueta Chávez told the Guardian that authorities in the city of Guayaquil were leaving the dead body of his father and others in the street. In temperatures higher than 86 degrees, their lack of action was threatening to kick off a second public health crisis during the pandemic.

Little has changed since then.

The virus has hit Guayaquil worse than anywhere else in Latin America, reported the New York Times. Hospitals and other services are overwhelmed. The country’s system of funeral homes and mortuaries has collapsed. There is a shortage of coffins.

“They are not only dying from (COVID-19),” said Mayor Cynthia Viteri. “People with diabetes, hypertension, heart disease are dying from a lack of medical attention because the hospitals are saturated with the critically ill – there aren’t places where women can give birth without getting infected.”

Cars line up outside emergency cemeteries to bury their dead, reported Reuters. Some keep the bodies of their loved ones in their homes for days. That could potentially spread the virus, according to a study on corpses infecting medical examiners in Thailand. An Ecuadoran reporter spoke to the Committee to Protect Journalists about how her cousin bought formaldehyde to cover up the smell of her late uncle’s body in their living room.

Others have taken to burying their loved ones in public parks, not only because of a lack of space but due to financial constraints, VICE News reported. The government has promised to bury the dead individually but progress has been slow.

Indigenous folks who can leave Guayaquil, the country’s largest city and its financial center, are flocking to their remote villages in the Amazon, Al Jazeera wrote. Others are self-isolating to avoid spreading the virus to their families.

Making matters worse, as Bloomberg explained, are Ecuador’s “serious co-morbidities” of foreign debt, plunging oil prices, inveterate poverty and political polarization. The country uses the US dollar, too. The greenback keeps the economy stable in turbulent times but ties the hands of policymakers who might print money to keep the economy going during crises.

The pandemic, meanwhile, has forced mining and other important industries to produce less when Ecuador desperately needs foreign cash.

And Ecuador is only at the beginning.

Comments 1 - 5 of 5        Search these comments

1   FuckTheMainstreamMedia   2020 Apr 21, 6:45am  

I’m calling bullshit.

17 million people, 10,000 cases

LA County 10 million people including a million illegals, 17,000 cases
2   MisdemeanorRebel   2020 May 1, 8:20am  

Everything is going to shit! We're all going to die from this somewhat rougher than normal Flu Season that overwhelmingly kills the sick and infirm!

Doom! DOOM! DOOOOOM!

www.youtube.com/embed/nNzkIgGpsAw
3   RWSGFY   2020 May 1, 12:20pm  

ohomen171 says
And Ecuador is only at the beginning.


Nope, they are at the back of the mountain now:

4   MisdemeanorRebel   2020 May 6, 7:36am  

Most of the cases are in Guayacuil, which is the sea-level port that does a lot of China Trade.

In the other two big cities, Quito and Cuenca, very few cases. Because they're up in the mountains with the Llamas and a UV of over 10 due to altitude.
5   EBGuy   2020 May 6, 12:28pm  

NoCoupForYou says
Because they're up in the mountains with the Llamas and a UV of over 10 due to altitude.

You know that's a pretty unsatisfying explanation, as "It's Always Sunny in Guayaquil". Especially if we're relying on Muh UV to zap The Virus in Los Estados Unidos this Spring and Summer.
From what I can tell, Guayaquil is extremely dense and likely overcrowding contributed to their outbreak -- much like Chelsea, MA and NYC. At least that's the my hope, or we're facing a long hot summer...

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