Brazilian in Ecuador reports vultures in the sky of Guayaquil after the accumulation of bodies of victims of coronavirus in the streets | World

See, in the video above, images of vultures flying over Guayaquil.

The port municipality has more than 2 million inhabitants and is the engine and economic center of Ecuador, but its streets are deserted.

For two weeks, since he became the epicenter of the new coronavirus pandemic (Sars-CoV-2) in the country, he has faced a scenario of horror. Guayaquil has 4 thousand patients with Covid-19 disease and overcrowded hospitals even before the peak in the number of infected. There are reports of families who were unable to locate relatives who were hospitalized and died.

As health and funeral systems collapsed, the corpses take a long time to be collected. There are bodies abandoned by families on public roads. They are waiting for the task force made up of the military and military police created by the Lenin Moreno government.

Mayor Cynthia Viteri said “there is no room for the living or the dead” in the city’s hospitals and cemeteries.

• Understand why the hospital system and morgues collapsed in Ecuador

With 17.4 million inhabitants, Ecuador officially records more than 7,800 cases of the new coronavirus and 388 confirmed deaths from coronavirus, according to the American Johns Hopkins University. However, the fear is that these numbers are much higher, given the lack of tests to detect Covid-19. About 1,000 more deaths are considered suspicious.

Authorities expect up to 3,500 deaths in the coming weeks in the province of Guayas, whose capital is Guayaquil, and where more than 70% of cases of coronavirus infection have been registered in the country.

The warm climate of the coastal city facing the Pacific speeds up the putrefaction process. Vultures, once rarely seen, now roam the city. The sky was invaded by the material exhaled by the crematoria.

On Sunday (12), the government announced that it had eliminated more than 700 bodies of people who died in their homes in recent weeks in Guayaquil. (Look the following video). The cause of death for all of them has not been proven, making it impossible to know how many were victims of Covid-19.

The Brazilian engineer says that, about a month ago, he started working in the home office. He says that his friends sent him videos showing bodies in the central area of ​​Guayaquil.

“Reports of people killed on the streets that you are receiving [no Brasil] They are true.I received videos, but I had to delete them. I couldn’t bear it, “he says.

The bodies are transported by makeshift trucks. “The liquid from the decomposing bodies is spilling into the streets, infecting everything. The stench is unbearable.

With strict confinement rules in place, casket manufacturers face difficulties obtaining raw materials, says the Rio engineer. News agency images show dead people buried in cardboard boxes.

The Brazilian receives requests for help from acquaintances to bury the dead. “Before the crisis, a coffin cost around $ 800. Now the price can go up to $ 2,000.”

Another Guayaquil in Brazil?

The Brazilian engineer says he sees reports from the Brazilian press and that already alerted friends from Rio, Curitiba and São Paulo – “But they see everything as a joke”, he laments.

“[Brasileiros] They say that this will not happen in Brazil. I said to them, ‘Please obey the governors. If they don’t, there will be another Guayaquil in Brazil. Is that what you want? ”

Ecuadorian government measures

According to the Brazilian engineer, “the population [equatoriana] is angry with the government, “which imposed an emergency tax on anyone earning more than $ 500 – $ 100 above the local minimum wage.

“Unemployment is growing. The impression is that the government is doing nothing. We are like a boat with no direction. The government only blames the past administration, which left power three years ago, “he observes.

President Lenín Moreno acknowledges that the country was not prepared to face the pandemic, which hit the country with empty coffers, as a result of an economic crisis.

The first case from Covid-19 in Ecuador it was officially announced on February 29. This is an Ecuadorian woman who arrived in Guayaquil on February 14, from Madrid, Spain, one of the countries most affected by the disease in the world, with more than 18,000 deaths.

Before being hospitalized, the woman had contact with her family and, therefore, more than 80 people were placed under observation by the health authorities. She died days later.

During the carnival period, in mid-summer, the country, as always, received waves of tourists, many of them from Europe to visit their family in Ecuador. In addition, at that time the students are on vacation and generally travel between Ecuadorian provinces.

After the announcement of the first death, the government suspended major events “just in case” in Guayaquil and neighboring Babahoyo. Classes were suspended and bars and clubs closed.

The population began to demand greater control at airports. In March 11, health emergency declared, and travelers arriving from 13 countries spent 14 days in mandatory isolation.

The entry of foreigners to Ecuador was restricted on March 16, after records of the second death and 28 confirmed cases of Covid-19.

On March 17, the government declared a national state of emergency, with a 9:00 p.m. curfew. at 5:00 a.m., suspension of work in various sectors, including transportation services between provinces and national flights.

On March 25, the curfew was extended. and it came into force between 2pm and 5am. The circulation of private vehicles was also limited and began to be organized according to the latest number of license plates.

Birthday isolation

Brazilian journalism student Cristiane Guerrero Marques das Neves, 23, also lives in Guayaquil. He was on vacation in the capital of Ecuador, Quito, and returned home by plane days after the announcement of the first Covid-19 case.

“At first, it was not given much importance. I traveled to Quito at that time. I arrived here on March 3, and the only control I had at the airport was a person, at a table, with informational materials, a poster explaining the disease and a person who distributed alcohol, “recalls the Brazilian in an interview with G1.

Cristiane mentions friends who were outside of Ecuador and had to hurry before the airports closed.

The university student says that her cleaning lady’s sister, who is not going to work due to the pandemic, had to put a body on the street, because the meeting took too long.

Cristiane’s best friend’s grandfather died on April 8: “He even went to the hospital, but he had a giant line. His wife thought it was more dangerous to wait, because she is also old. Upon returning home, he died. a cemetery, but only one person can accompany the funeral. ”

On her own, Cristiane’s family began their quarantine on March 14, on her birthday, she lives with her parents and grandfather.

“I could not do anything. I stayed at home all day. I could only go out to buy the cake, but I went with a mask. Only my best friend came. At the time, they thought it was over the top. Now they understand me, “he recalls.

“Logically, I’m a little scared, like everyone else. But, here at home, we are taking all measures to prevent infection. We only order food at home, when the food arrives we wash it with soap [as embalagens], we pass alcohol. After doing all of that, you will shower to disinfect yourself.

She says that during this period, only her father went out to buy medicine for her 94-year-old grandfather.

“It is a complicated situation for all countries. I just hope it goes by quickly and that our life returns to normal as soon as possible. “