Coronavirus surges on Colombia’s Caribbean coast, doctors warn deaths underreported

BOGOTA, (Reuters) - Coronavirus cases and deaths are surging along Colombia’s Caribbean coast as the region becomes the epicenter of the pandemic in the Andean country, with doctors warning many deaths are going undetected.

Colombia - Latin America’s third-most populous nation - has officially reported over 113,000 cases of coronavirus and just under 4,000 deaths among its 50 million inhabitants.

The climbing figures pale in comparison with some neighboring countries, with regional giant Brazil exceeding 64,200 deaths on Saturday.

Colombia’s Caribbean region accounts for close to 40% of the country’s reported cases and just over half its deaths, according to an analysis of government data by the World Health Organization (WHO).

President Ivan Duque told Reuters last month his government was escalating its response to the pandemic in the Caribbean region, given the concentration of cases there, after taking strict measures to slow infection in cities like Cartagena.

There is no definitive hypothesis about why there has been higher mortality in the coast region, but officials and doctors say flouting of social distancing rules and a higher incidence of certain other diseases may play a role.

Atlantico province, with its port capital Barranquilla, has registered over 1,300 deaths - more than Bogota, even though Atlantico has only about one-third of the capital’s population.