(Photo : Faceboo/ DAILY SABAH)
Ecuador forces locals to use cardboard boxes instead of coffins as it struggles to deal with the #COVID19 deaths.
After news broke out about corpses of COVID-19 victims lying on streets, authorities in Ecuador are now distributing cardboard coffins for the bodies left on the streets and to families who were forced to keep the dead bodies of their loved ones in their homes.
The country's authorities also created a helpline so that those families who need assistance in removing the corpses would be able to reach them.
At the moment officials say that Ecuador is still rushing to order thousands more of the cardboard coffins to cope with the high number of COVID-19 victims to avoid a repeat of having corpses left on the streets to rot.
In the port city of Guayaquil which is considered as a regional hotspot for coronavirus in the country, mortuaries and hospitals have been overwhelmed with the number of coronavirus cases and deaths. In relation to this, local producers have already donated at least 2,000 pressed cardboard caskets.
The city has also announced that they are ordering even more in order to help the local cemeteries which have been snowed under with dead bodies amid the crisis.
Health workers wearing protective gear are seen behind body bags outside of Teodoro Maldonado Carbo Hospital amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Guayaquil, Ecuador April 3, 2020. Picture taken April 3, 2020.
In addition to the cardboard caskets, the port city with a population of more than 2 million has also acquireed refrigerated trailers in order to aid in the storing of the dead which has piled up in number in city hospitals.
Ecuador's President, Lenin Moreno also announced that there are already plans of putting up a "special camp" where the estimated number of probable coronavirus deaths of 3,500 would be buried.
Hospitals look like war zones
One of the doctors in one of the city's largest medical facilities, Teodoro Maldonado Carbo hospital, compared the current situation of the country to a war zone.
He also said that the condition of the hospitals is comparable to those in horror films, adding that his wife did not even want him to go to work anymore. However, he insisted to go thinking of the patients that could die in his absence.
Meanwhile, the health ministry of the country has registered at least 172 deaths caused by COVID-19 where 122 of them were in Guayas Province. However, due to the low testing rate, this figure is said to be relatively lower than the real scenario.
According to a regional politician, Carlos Luis Morales officials in the country have been instructed to not reveal any statistics about the death toll in Guayas and Guayaquil. However, he gave a sneak peek to the real situation by telling CNN en Español that on April 2, there were 480 death certificates that were issued and at least 150 bodies are being collected daily.
Government has faced criticism for COVID-19 response
As the hotspot of the pandemic in South America, Ecuador has faced a lot of criticisms on their response to the COVID-19 outbreak including their failure to strictly implement quarantine measures in the country.
According to Morales, when the virus first emerged in China, they did not think that it would reach their country, thus they were lenient in the response.
The country's vice president, Otto Sonnenholzner, even released a televised apology after images of the dead bodies in Guayaquil rotting on the streets circulated on the internet. He also gave his word that he is doing everything he can in order to save the most number of lives as possible.
Related article: Corpses Left Rotting on Streets, Health Minister Resigns as COVID-19 Overwhelms Ecuador
