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In the last two days, Brazil and Mexico recorded their daily records of the number of deaths from coronavirus, increasing concern about the evolution of the epidemic in Latin America, where other states have also had a drastic and recent increase in cases: Peru, for example, and to a lesser extent Chile.
Several South American metropolises, from Lima in Peru to Manaus in Brazil, have recorded balances in recent days comparable to those of the most affected European cities. In Guayaquil, Ecuador, mortality in April was five times higher than normal, as in New York. The impression is that the worst is only coming now and, therefore, the evolution of the infection is lagging behind Europe, where the situation is now slowly improving, after weeks and weeks of restrictive measures.
With more fragmented and often hidden information, underfunded hospitals, a very high population density in certain areas, and a generally developing economy, the situation in Latin America is increasingly worrying. Health systems and local administrations are in crisis and worse than in the rest of the world, and there are great difficulties in finding health materials that are scarce worldwide and that are almost always being hoarded by the richest countries. Population testing operations are almost always insufficient, and official budgets, revealed by various journalistic investigations, are almost always largely underestimated.
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An exception is Argentina, where so far there have been fewer than 7,000 cases and 329 deaths out of a population of 44.5 million, thanks to timely restrictive measures that governors have begun to relax this week.
Brazil
On Tuesday in Brazil, 779 deaths were determined, which fell to 754 on Wednesday: the two most serious balances since the beginning of the epidemic, and which have brought the total death toll to 13,240, the sixth most serious in the world. By number of official cases, Brazil overtook France the day before yesterday, and is currently at more than 190,000. However, the relationship between infections and deaths is much better than elsewhere: in Italy, where there are 220,000 infections, there have been more than 30,000 deaths. France, which has less than 180,000 registered cases, has counted 27,000 deaths.
President Jair Bolsonaro, whose management and communication of the epidemic has been widely criticized both in Brazil and abroad, has not commented on the latest issues. After having decreased the severity of COVID-19 for weeks and spread the falsehood about the virus, on Tuesday he tweeted to thank the nurses, who meanwhile were protesting against the government in Brasilia with the names of the 109 colleagues who have died. so far due to the coronavirus.
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Despite the serious budget, in Brazil there are no restrictive measures similar to those of the most affected countries: neither at the national level nor, with some exceptions, at the state level. Bolsonaro refused to impose a emergency shutdown in the country, and most of the governors who criticized him did the same. In some cases, restrictions have been imposed on individual cities: the first big one was Sao Luis, in the north-eastern state of Maranhao, which introduced the first measures a week ago emergency shutdown on a large scale, although it only includes some cities.
Bolsonaro criticized the governors who imposed the quarantine in some cities, alleging that they want to harm the economy and even joining the protests against the emergency shutdown. Managing the epidemic has eroded their consensus and jeopardized the maintenance of their government. In recent weeks, Bolsonaro fired the Minister of Justice and Health, prompting the opposition to speak openly about the dismissal and the Supreme Court to authorize an investigation against him. Another case also arose around the swabs made by Bolsonaro: it was suspected that they had been positive but that he had hidden it. After a court in São Paulo asked him to submit the related medical documentation, he confirmed the president’s version: they had actually been negative.
The nurses’ protest in Brasilia. (Andressa Anholete / Getty Images)
Mexico
On Wednesday, for the first time since the epidemic began, Mexico recorded more than 300 deaths in one day: there were 353, after days when the 200 had been touched or exceeded. Officially, there are 40,000 infections and 4,220 deaths: but several investigations have revealed that the number of deaths is significantly underestimated in Mexico, and that it could be more than three times higher. The problem according New York Times it depends on a deliberate choice by the central government, which is hiding the data it receives from local administrations, which are alarmed by the situation.
Giovanna Avila, a doctor at the Belisario Domínguez Specialty Hospital in Mexico City, said that people on the street seem to have no idea what the situation is in the wards. In the capital alone, an estimated 2,500 deaths, compared to 700 in the official budget. Mexico is testing around 1.1 inhabitants per 1,000, the lowest percentage among countries with more than 20,000 confirmed cases. Iraq, for comparison, performs proportionally more than three times the tests on the population, while the United States does 31 and Italy 45.
Also in Mexico, social distancing measures have only been recommended, but have not been imposed, and there are no restrictions on travel. The government’s strategy, explained the New York Times, is based on the prediction that cases will fall naturally after the peak, which has not happened in any country without restrictive measures. the guardian It also talks about pressure from the United States to keep factories open for American companies. Many, including automakers, have been declared essential and will reopen starting next Monday, along with schools in areas where outbreaks have been lowest.
Central de Abasto, the largest market in Latin America, in Mexico City. (Toya Sarno Jordan / Getty Images)
Peru
With its 76,000 official cases, Peru is the third largest country in Latin America in number of infections. The dead are officially just over two thousand. President Martin Vizcarra said Wednesday that the epidemic has peaked and that the emergency shutdown imposed in the first fortnight of March is entering the final phase. The Peruvian response to the emergency was timely judged and decided by the international scientific community, but there are many doubts about the official budget. In the capital Lima, around 6,200 died in April, more than double the normal average in the same month, a difference only higher than that of official deaths recorded across the country.
The queue to fill the oxygen cylinders used for home care of COVID-19, in Quito. (Getty Images / Getty Images)
Ecuador
In Ecuador, even before the registered infections, around 30 thousand, deaths are high: 2,334. In Guayaquil, a coastal city of more than 2 million inhabitants, the situation is dramatic, says the New York Times, with corpses abandoned on the street or buried in cardboard coffins. The national health system did not cope with the increase in April, and even in this case it is believed that the deaths were much more than the official ones: the number of deaths in the weeks of the epidemic was 15 times greater than that normal, which suggests that Ecuador may be one of the most affected countries on the continent and in the world. Between March 1 and April 15, there were about 7,600 more deaths than the average in the same period in previous years: there were 503 official coronavirus deaths in the same period. However, the government has announced that the measures of emergency shutdown, hoping to restart the economy.
Cardboard coffins in Guayaquil, Ecuador. (Getty Images / Eduardo Maquilon / Getty Images)
Chile
After a new increase in infections, with 2,600 new cases and a growth of 60 percent compared to the previous day, the Chilean government has announced that a rigid will be imposed as of Friday emergency shutdown in the metropolitan area of the capital, Santiago, which has 6.5 million inhabitants. A mandatory quarantine will also be introduced throughout the country for people over 75 years of age. So far, Chile has recorded more than 34,000 cases and only 346 deaths, but even in this case the figures seem to be largely underestimated. The tests per 1,000 inhabitants so far have been around 16.4.
Sanitizing a street in Santiago de Chile (Claudio Santana / Getty Images)
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