The coronavirus pandemic is out of control in Bolivia, with 14th-century conditions existing in the city of Cochabamba—now the country’s epicenter—as bodies are piling up on the streets and in people’s homes, because overwhelmed funeral homes can’t cremate bodies fast enough, or even retrieve cadavers from residences. Argentina’s daily Perfil described the situation of one desperate family who took the makeshift coffin containing its dead loved one and blocked the street with it in protest, because the decomposing body had been in their home for over a week and no funeral home would pick it up.
An estimated 20 bodies per day can be found on Cochabamba’s streets or in residences—sometimes put out in front of a house where they decompose. Neighbors protest, fearing contagion from dead bodies. Many of the dead were never officially diagnosed with COVID-19, but are “suspected” to have been infected. The cities of La Paz and El Alto, which have poverty levels similar to Cochabamba’s, are expected to face a similar crisis very soon, El Destape reports.
Cemetery personnel in Cochabamba are frantically digging mass graves, while the head of the Forensic Research Institute is warning authorities to buy refrigerated trucks to retrieve and temporarily store cadavers. The government is saying that many people die “out of simple ignorance” because they wait too long before going to the hospital to get medical care—failing to mention that hospitals are turning people away because there are no beds. Several hospitals nationwide have closed because they lack medical supplies and too many staff members, including doctors and nurses, are sick. As of today, Bolivia had 41,545 confirmed cases and 1,530 deaths, but according to Perfil, authorities are projecting 130,000 cases by August, when the virus is expected to peak.
President Jeanine Áñez, who illegally seized power last November following the coup against President Evo Morales, is now performing all her duties virtually, as nine of her cabinet ministers have been diagnosed with coronavirus.
