COVID-19 pandemic in Ecuador
Ecuador was described in April as emerging as a possible "epicentre" of the pandemic in Latin America,[5] with the city of Guayaquil overwhelmed to the point where bodies were being left in the street.
[6] As of April 2020, Ecuador has been distributing cardboard coffins due to the country's struggle in evacuating the dead bodies.
[15] On 12 January, 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.
The following section includes all the daily reports published by national media, communicating the updates of the new confirmed cases from the Ministry of Health or the INSPI (Instituto Nacional de Investigación en Salud Pública, in English National Public Health Research Institute).
On 29 February, the Minister of Public Health in Ecuador, Catalina Andramuño, confirmed the first case of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the country.
[25] The last report, according to the INSPI (Instituto Nacional de Investigación en Salud Pública, in English National Public Health Research Institute), confirmed a total of 14 positive cases.
Additionally, the first death (the first Ecuadorian infection case) was reported by the Minister of Public Health, Catalina Andramuño, during a press conference in Guayaquil.
Vice President Otto Sonnenholzner, in a televised statement, said all aerial, land and maritime transport into the Andean country will be prohibited.
Ecuador at this point had confirmed 28 cases of the coronavirus, including two deaths, and authorities banned all public activities.
[32] Citizens of Ecuador, El Salvador, Perú, and Chile were stranded at Benito Juárez International Airport in Mexico City on 16 March because of the virus.
[43] On 24 March, the Ecuadorian police moved to dismantle open markets to limit large groups of people coming together.
[44] On the afternoon of 30 March, the new Minister of Public Health of Ecuador, Juan Carlos Zevallos announced that 54 people had recovered.
[46] On 2 April president Lenín Moreno said that the government was building a "special camp" for the victims of the coronavirus in Guayaquil.
[47] Two-thirds of COVID-19 cases of Ecuador were reported to be in Guayaquil and its surrounding areas, and local authorities have ordered cardboard coffins, and said that a new cemetery would be opened and freezer units would be used to store the corpses.
[48] Data emerged on 17 April suggesting that the number of death due to COVID-19 may be much higher than that officially reported – 10,939 people had died in six weeks since the start of March in the Guayas province, compared to a normal figure of 3,000 for the region,[11] with nearly 6,000 more deaths than average reported in Guayaquil in the first two weeks of April alone.
[12] Both the Interior Minister María Paula Romo and President Lenín Moreno admitted that the official numbers for COVID-19 were too low due to insufficient testing.
[49] On 21 April, the government announced plans to restart its economy as well as allowing flights home for its citizens abroad, although controls on education and transport and the ban of large gatherings of people remained.
