Ecuadorian port overwhelmed by bodies
QUITO: The corpses have been overwhelming Guayaquil, a port city of 2.8 million at the epicentre of the coronavirus crisis in Ecuador.
Over the past few days, several have been wrapped in plastic and left on the streets. Others have lain unclaimed in hospitals and clinics that have been overwhelmed by infections. The city morgue is full.
The majority of the dead are believed to be victims of the virus, but nobody can say for sure how many because there has been little testing.
The country has confirmed 2758 infections and 98 deaths, at least 60 of them in Guayaquil and its immediate surroundings. But municipal officials there say they have recovered at least 400 bodies in recent days.
Mayor Cynthia Viteri, who has tested positive for the virus, said the national government should be responsible for collecting the corpses.
‘‘They’re leaving them in the villages, they fall in front of hospitals,’’ she said in a Twitter video message to residents last week. ‘‘Noone wants to recover them.’’
She said on Wednesday that unclaimed bodies were now being placed in three refrigerated cargo containers while authorities pursued plans for a new cemetery. The city government is denying news reports that the cemetery will be a common grave with all victims buried together, saying all will receive a ‘‘Christian burial’’.
Between 500 and 1000 patients per day are showing up with respiratory complaints at Guayaquil’s largest hospital, Los Ceibos, officials there say. Many are false alarms, but the high volume has stressed the medical centre to the breaking point.
Viteri tweeted that she would continue working as long as she could.
‘‘I will be where I am and how I am,’’ she wrote.
‘‘Don’t leave your houses, protect the elderly and the weakest, and take care of each other.’’ —