QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Struggling to breathe, Luis Gualotuña arrived before dawn Wednesday at a coronavirus testing site in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito, which has experienced an alarming surge in COVID-19 cases since the government started to reopen the economy last month.
A few hours later, Gualotua still in a long queue.
“My throat hurts, my body hurts. I have a general feeling and I came here to leave if I have a COVID. All that’s left is to wait,” said Gualotua, a 34-year-old unemployed carpenter.
The new coronavirus destroyed the port city of Guayaquil for the first time in March and April, killing a lot of other horrible people around the world with scenes of bodies left on the street as the government struggled to cope with the pandemic. The stage in Guayaquil has since stabilized, but now Quito’s hospitals are filling up and funeral crematoriums are being driven to meet demand.
There were 82,300 infections infected with the new coronavirus in Ecuador and about 5600 deaths due to the disease it causes, COVID-19. Another 3,353 deaths are believed to be related to the virus. The country has a population of more than 17 million.
Quito recorded 12747 and showed cases of coronavirus and 605 deaths. On June 30, he reported almost the same number of cases and 464 deaths. The fitness crisis has been exacerbated by reduced social estrangement measures as Ecuador attempts to revive its economy and the advent of seasonal influenza.
In recent days, many others with respiratory disorders have been covered for coronavirus testing at established health care sites in the municipality. Military tents, some connected to an oxygen supply, have been erected outdoors in some hospitals to care for an increasing number of patients.
Ambato, Cuenca, Santo Domingo de los Colorados and some other cities in Ecuador face an equally complicated scenario, said Health Minister Juan Carlos Zevallos. But he said the government runs the stage and “they are in no way compared to what is happening in the rest of Latin America.”
Brazil, Mexico and Peru, among the most affected countries in Latin America, reported a combined total of deaths of approximately 150,000 per COVID-19. The virus has killed more than 660,000 people worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University, which helps keep track. The real numbers are probably higher.
Some Ecuadorians ignore social estrangement protocols, sell nearby pieces on the street, or host parties and casual events.
There are “pockets of disobedience that can cause infections at a time when we want more control,” at most other people follow the guidelines, government minister Maria Paula Romo said.
For now, many are waiting in Quito, an economy, the effects of coronavirus tests, news of hospitalized parents.
The state of Marcos De los Angeles Cruz on Wednesday outdoors, a public hospital in South Quito. Inside his brother in Los Angeles, Eddy Rodriguez, 37.
“He can no longer walk, we have to hold him on both sides, and he tested positive for COVID,” De los Angeles Cruz said, his voice broken by emotion. “We don’t know what’s going to happen.”