COVID-19 pandemic in Bolivia
[4] On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.
[15] On 14 March, Interim President Jeanine Áñez prohibited anyone coming from China, South Korea, Italy, or Spain to enter the country.
[17] On 15 March, the government announced new measures including the expansion of entry restrictions on travelers coming from the Schengen Area, in addition to the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Iran.
[23] On 23 March, Áñez released a statement at 13:00 local time confirming the extreme quarantine measures and requesting the support and understanding of the population.
[35] The Ministry of Health set up free hotlines at 800-10-1104 and 800-10-1106 to inform people about symptoms and allow them to ask questions about the virus.
[40] Supreme Decree 4196 indicates:[37] A nationwide quarantine is in effect from 22 March at midnight (00:00) for 14 days, with the goal of slowing the spread of the virus in the country, under the following orders:[37] On 30 December 2020, the government of newly elected President Luis Arce signed a contract between Bolivia and Russia to acquire 5.2 million doses of the Sputnik-V vaccine.
[42] The vaccine was granted emergency approval and registered by the Bolivian regulator based on the results of Phase III clinical trials in Russia.
Foreign Minister Rogelio Mayta said that unless 70 percent of the world's population was vaccinated new variations of the disease will arise and the pandemic "will continue for years".
[47] Marcelo Ebrard, Mexican Foreign Minister, announced on May 12, 2021, that Mexico will donate 400,000 doses of Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Bolivia, Belize, and Paraguay.
[53] Following the announcement of the first confirmed case, incidents were reported among the local population, including large-scale purchasing of surgical masks[54][55] and hand sanitizer and blocking access to hospitals.
[58] Bolivia's health minister Marcelo Navajas was arrested, May 20, 2020, on suspicion of corruption related to the over-priced purchase of ventilators to fight COVID-19.
[61] Humérez was able to connect for prosecutors, the health minister to Iñaqui García, a representative of the respirator supplier, GPA Innova, among others.
With over 2 dozen calls between Humérez and masista leaders, including Morales and Orlando Zurita, prosecutors Arturo has postulated this may be less a controversy of corruption, and one of conspiracy against the current government.
[63] In addition to Humérez, Valenzuela, Giovani Pacheco, the director of the agency tasked with procuring medical equipment, as well as two Inter-American Development Bank advisors have been arrested.
[72] However, in spite of these calls from prosecutors, and the continuing pandemic, Mostajo-Radji left Bolivia for the United States in June 2020[73] and has yet to testify.
[77][73] In August 2020, it was revealed that an additional 324 respirators, purchased from China through Amgen were also bought with a surcharge ($35,000 for machines that cost $18,000) and contained numerous defects.
