Battling virus deadly for Peru’s doctors

LIMA, Peru — Black-andwhite pictures of dozens of men and women, some in their 30s and others much older, line the perimeter of a bright yellow building overlooking the Pacific, a two-story-tall black ribbon covering part of the facade and a Peruvian flag at a half-staff near the door.

The makeshift memorial is for fallen “pandemic soldiers” — doctors who have died since the coronavirus struck this South American nation last year and unraveled the public health care system.

“Our country, like the other countries in the world, is not prepared for this pandemic. Even more so, the most affected are developing countries like ours,” said Dr. Gerardo Campos, a spokesman for the Medical College of Peru.

The college represents physicians and its headquarters is the site of the memorial, where a cleaning worker wearing a face mask recently dusted off each photo and placed flowers in front of them.

“Peru has been deeply affected, and within population groups, those on the front line are the doctors — the first-line soldiers who have battled COVID,” Campos added. “We have had great losses . . . . The Medical College has been seen affected in its entirety.”