'Smell flowed from him': Why bodies are being left for days on the streets of coronavirus-hit Guayaquil

[TBoneTX 45,571]

This is a very sad, yet accurate, article about the situation in Ecu's largest city.  I've heard anecdotes from Mrs. T-B. and Mama-Mrs.-T-B., who is stuck here visiting.

 

The epidemic began from ONE infected traveler from Madrid, Spain.

 

Mrs. T-B. essentially grew up in Guayaquil, and some of her friends have died or lost their family members.  I have visited there many times.  The city is indeed swelteringly hot most of the year.

Quote

'Smell flowed from him': Why bodies are being left for days on the streets of coronavirus-hit Guayaquil

Lucy Anna Gray | 6 days ago

 

A bus driver from Guayaquil – Ecuador's most populous city – was told by his landlady that there was a bad smell coming from one of the apartments.  With the other tenants, he knocked down the door and found a dead body.  "Due the state of decomposition, a few days must have passed ... no one has returned to that house.  Not even the relatives of the deceased man," the driver – who wishes to remain anonymous – says.

Ecuador has nearly 4,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 [...]

 

Continues here: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/guayaquil-ecuador-coronavirus-death-toll-bodies-latin-america-a9456596.html  

 

 

[OriZ 3,157]

Indeed sad. I heard they have cases even in the Galapagos now. 

 

 

[TBoneTX 45,571]

Probably so.  At least the two infected people in Mrs. T-B.'s hometown (southeastern Ecu) have reportedly recovered.

[Steeleballz 7,550]

53 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

Probably so.  At least the two infected people in Mrs. T-B.'s hometown (southeastern Ecu) have reportedly recovered.

 

   What is your opinion of the health care system there? How well will they be able to handle it if numbers keep rising? 

[TBoneTX 45,571]

I consulted Mrs. T-B.; it's been 20 years since she lived in Guayaquil and 11 years since she spent more than a brief visit there.

 

She thinks that the ratio of public-to-private hospital services is roughly 50:50; the public (free) hospitals are larger, and there are more (and smaller) private clinics, which probably also have inpatient capability.  The differences in hygiene and level of care have always been stark.  She's certain that both systems there are completely overwhelmed now, and that private care is almost certainly deteriorating as a consequence.

 

Again, it stuns me that the epidemic there was begun by the ONE lady who returned from Spain.  The situation is exacerbated because Guayaquil's water is the worst in Ecu, and few Ecus routinely wash their hands regardless.  (There's almost never any soap in restaurant or other public restrooms because people steal it.  Same with toilet paper.)

 

Her hometown (est. 15,000 pop.) has no real hospital and probably a barely adequate number of doctors; the closest decent hospitals are a bumpy, mountainous 4.5 hours north in Cuenca, Ecu's 3rd-largest city.

 

Sidebar:  A few years ago, I wanted to have a small birthmark mole removed.  Mrs. T-B. got me an almost immediate appointment at what was then Cuenca's best private hospital.  The evaluation (by a dermatologist with 22 years' experience) cost $20; his in-office procedure the next day was also $20 -- with 2 nurses present, one of whom very thoroughly interpreted/explained things in English.  After a token amount for an ointment, I was out for less than $50.

Edited April 16, 2020 by TBoneTX

[Sparkle Sparkle 914]

This is sad... Bodies on the streets could lead to very bad pandemics 

[TBoneTX 45,571]

Decomposing corpses themselves are a health risk, even ignoring what killed them.  SB can probably comment further.

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

6 hours ago, Sparkle Sparkle said:

This is sad... Bodies on the streets could lead to very bad pandemics 

How would a body on the street in Ecuador affect S. Korea, the US, or Japan?

[Sparkle Sparkle 914]

I never mentioned those countries... Bodies on the streets anywhere is a health risk... You knowledgeable enough to understand this

6 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

How would a body on the street in Ecuador affect S. Korea, the US, or Japan?

 

6 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

How would a body on the street in Ecuador affect S. Korea, the US, or Japan?

I never mentioned those countries... Bodies on the streets anywhere is a health risk... You knowledgeable enough to understand this

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

1 minute ago, Sparkle Sparkle said:

I never mentioned those countries... Bodies on the streets anywhere is a health risk... You knowledgeable enough to understand this

 

I never mentioned those countries... Bodies on the streets anywhere is a health risk... You knowledgeable enough to understand this

Yes, bodies laying on the street are a problem.  But far from a pandemic.

[Sparkle Sparkle 914]

1 minute ago, Voice of Reason said:

Yes, bodies laying on the street are a problem.  But far from a pandemic.

Bodies on the street rot and cause diseases to the living... Diseases to the living not controlled turns to a pandemic... Do I have to spell it out in ABC? 

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

1 hour ago, Sparkle Sparkle said:

Bodies on the street rot and cause diseases to the living... Diseases to the living not controlled turns to a pandemic... Do I have to spell it out in ABC? 

 

Yes, please use ABC.  That should be interesting. 

 

Meanwhile, a few dead bodies in one town (or even two) while certainly not a healthy thing, still is not a pandemic, until dead bodies start spreading across borders or a broad geographic area.

 

 

A pandemic is used to describe a disease that has spread across many countries and affects a large number of people. Neither the CDC nor the WHO specify how many countries or how many people need to be affected in order for something to be declared a pandemic.

 

https://health.usnews.com/conditions/articles/whats-the-difference-between-an-epidemic-and-pandemic

[Ban Hammer 13,419]

[TBoneTX 45,571]

We can agree that dead bodies lying around are a health hazard.  No need to argue.

 

Mrs. T-B. says that families seeking to bury their dead are given "any body" at random, not necessarily their family member.  That's (to hijack a grim phrase) the final nail in the coffin after losing someone.

[TBoneTX 45,571]

Mrs. T-B. says today that Guayaquil is also being hit with a wave of Dengue fever.  When it rains, it pours...