Bolivians driven from pillar to post as Covid-19 overwhelms hospitals

[Judi Lynn]

Grover Ponce, 42, died after being shuttled between six different health facilities as his family watched in rising desperation

Coronavirus – latest global updates
by Dan Collyns and Mónica García Zea in La Paz

Sun 2 Aug 2020 05.45 EDT

In the two weeks before he died from suspected Covid-19, Grover Ponce was shuttled between six hospitals, as his wife Paola Medina battled the labyrinthine bureaucracy of Bolivia’s health system.

Just days after he was finally admitted to La Portada hospital in La Paz, he had to be rushed to intensive care in another hospital in El Alto. But by then it was too late. He suffered two cardiorespiratory arrests and died on Sunday.

“I could say a million things, but nothing will bring back my husband,” said Medina, 41, her voice breaking as she spoke by phone from the crowded main cemetery in downtown La Paz.

“Obviously, I feel very, very angry with the health system,” Medina said. “They have made it so hard – and there are many people like me who didn’t know where to turn.”

Ponce’s death, and his wife’s desperate efforts to save his life, have resonated with Bolivians as their country’s health service buckles under a surging coronavirus caseload.

The daily number of new cases peaked on Thursday as the country of 11.5 million people reported 75,234 cases and 2,894 deaths – although experts suspect the true figure is much higher.

A special police unit has collected more than 3,300 bodies from their homes or left lying in the street, about 80% of whom are suspected to have been infected with Covid-19.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/aug/02/bolivia-coronavirus-hospitals-covid-19

[Judi Lynn]

1. From June 1st: Is Bolivia's 'interim' president using the pandemic to outstay her welcome?

Jeanine Áñez has postponed elections, and her government, which mixes militarism with religious zeal, is accused of persecuting political opponents

by Laurence Blair and Cindy Jiménez Bercerra in La Paz

As locked-down Bolivians looked to the skies this Easter, they were met with an unusual sight. Cassock-wearing priests, some wielding statues of the apostles, sprinkled holy water and blessings over four cities from circling air force helicopters.

The episode encapsulated the uneasy mix of militarism and religious zeal that has defined six months of the caretaker presidency of Jeanine Áñez. A little-known evangelical politician from Bolivia’s tropical lowlands, Áñez was catapulted to power last November with one job: to hold new elections as soon as possible.

. . .

One of Áñez’s first acts was to authorise the use of lethal force by police and soldiers. The decree was later rescinded, but security forces meanwhile killed up to 28 demonstrators, including in two shootings widely described as massacres. The killings are yet to be investigated.

In January, Áñez declared her own candidacy for president in the forthcoming elections – a U-turn on her previous promises. She has since postponed the polls originally scheduled for 3 May, arguing they should wait until the worst of the pandemic has passed, which has so far seen more than 8,000 cases in Bolivia and 293 confirmed deaths.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jun/01/bolivia-president-jeanine-anez-coronavirus-elections