Nicaragua’s Ortega says COVID-19 is under control, unlike in ‘capitalist’ countries Local epidemiologists disagree
NICARAGUA - As much of Latin America wrestles with the social and economic impact of COVID-19, the government of Nicaragua says it’s got the virus under control. On Sunday, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega made a rare appearance, at which the leftist leader announced that the country’s death toll was low and that the pandemic had not affected Nicaragua’s health system -- as had happened in “capitalist” countries.
Ortega said agricultural output had not suffered from the pandemic and commended “the hard-working spirit of the Nicaraguan, the hard-working spirit of the peasants, who in the worst moments have not stopped producing.” But experts in the country and abroad warn that Ortega’s government is hiding the true extent of infections, and that -- despite Nicaragua’s refusal to shut down the economy poverty and unemployment could rise dramatically this year.
Only 108 Nicaraguans have died from the coronavirus and just 3,439 have been infected in this country of 6 million, Nicaragua’s Ministry of Health reported Tuesday. But those figures aren’t convincing to international health experts or local epidemiologists. Rival calculations made by a group of Nicaraguan epidemiologists, medical professionals and students known as the COVID19 Citizen Observatory suggest that the number of COVID-19 cases has already topped 8,500. The group has also counted 2,397 suspected COVID-19 deaths -- 22 times the official tally.
The Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), the regional arm of the World Health Organization, says the government’s data lacks transparency and that, in the absence of updated and transparent information from the government, unofficial data sources like the citizen observatory should be taken into account. ( CNN)