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Related: About this forumBolivians driven from pillar to post as Covid-19 overwhelms hospitals
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 Bolivias 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 didnt know where to turn.
Ponces death, and his wifes desperate efforts to save his life, have resonated with Bolivians as their countrys 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
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Bolivians driven from pillar to post as Covid-19 overwhelms hospitals (Original Post)
Judi Lynn
Aug 2020
OP
Judi Lynn
(160,527 posts)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 Bolivias tropical lowlands, Áñez was catapulted to power last November with one job: to hold new elections as soon as possible.
. . .
One of Áñezs 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