Mass Burials For COVID-19 Victims In Ecuador

Kota Ekuador (Photo by Abbie Bernet on Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The COVID-19 pandemic has not only brought great panic to the world's citizens. In line with his presence, stories of sadness also emerged as the plague began to spread to Latin America. In Ecuador, for example, deaths due to COVID-19 are increasing day by day.

Therefore, the Government of Ecuador is preparing a makeshift burial on land donated by a private cemetery in Guayaquil, the country's largest city. This is part of the government's effort to overcome the shortage of burial grounds when COVID-19 begins to spread.

As reported by Reuters, Ecuador has recorded a positive number of 3,995 cases with a confirmed death toll of 220 cases. That must be the case, there are also 182 deaths that are still suspected of being related to COVID-19.

On that basis, the COVID-19 outbreak has triggered new problems such as a shortage of wooden coffins. Sadly, many of the people have been forced to bury their relatives using only cardboard boxes donated by cemetery managers.

Responding to this, the spokesman for the Government of Ecuador regarding COVID-19, Jorge Wated, said that the government is currently providing a burial place and will publish a guide on the internet so that the families of the families of the victims who have been left behind can find the whereabouts of the graves of their loved ones.

Not only that, the government has also prepared two public cemeteries in Guayaquil City with a capacity of around 12,000 grave slots. "At the cemetery, they will be buried individually, without being charged any fees to the family," said Wated.

Meanwhile, many cars carrying coffins are waiting outside the cemetery to await their turn to bury those who have died. COVID-19 has also increasingly spread to entire hospitals and emergency services.

As a result, among those killed so far are seven nurses who are at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19. In total, until now the number of nurses who have contracted COVID-19 is around 147 people. This made 120 other nurses resign for fear of contracting them.