INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Blanca Reyes had the call dreaded by so many, a month ago.The hospital had the worst news possible about her father
He had been diagnosed positive with coronavirus but it still came as a huge shock."What? I said
That can't be right, he was stable
This was the last update you gave me
And then the person continued: No, if you are Blanca Reyes and your father he died
Please come to the hospital."Image:Blanca Reyes' father died - but she has not yet seen his bodyBut compounding grief in the weeks that have
passed since, the hospital in Guayaquil, Ecuador, still can't find his body.Despite multiple phone calls and trips to the hospital, Blanca's
A death certificate has been issued but no body to bury.Blanca speaks with quiet anger and grief about the way she has been treated.She
suspects the government is trying to cover up the extent of its failure to handle the pandemic."I have some theories
One is that they didn't tell the families because they didn't want to hand over the bodies in order to hide, at the beginning, the number of
COVID-19 deaths."Authorities admitted to Sky News they have 120 bodies that have not been identified but could not account for bodies simply
going missing in the system.Image:Guayaquil has been called Latin America's WuhanBlanca's story is symptomatic of a complete collapse in the
city where she lives in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.The nightmare we have all been dreading happened here.Image:People in Guayaquil,
Ecuador, are pictured mourning a victim of the coronavirus outbreakThe government failed the people in their hour of greatest need and the
health system was overwhelmed.It failed so badly that bodies were left to rot on the streets or in people's homes
When Cesar Galvez's father died, local authorities were too busy to take his body
They had to keep it in their home for three days.:: Listen to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker"We
were helpless no one to turn to, everything turned hard and even more for the relatives
Imagine having there a dead body and not being able of doing anything
It is tough," said Cesar Galvez.The city of Guayaquil has been called Latin America's Wuhan, after the Chinese city where the virus
started.It has been among the continent's worst hit.It's thought as many as 7,000 have died in this one city alone, although official
figures, which count only those who tested positive for the virus before dying, are far lower.They are used to disposing of 50 bodies a day
As COVID-19 ravaged the city, that number rose to 500.Poverty, disorganisation, and the failure of officials to anticipate the crisis led to
dystopian scenes of bodies being collected from the streets.Blanca waits for answers and a body to bury
She is in no doubt that the government could and should have done much more.Image:As many as 7,000 people in Guayaquil are thought to have
died from COVID-19"The authorities did not act on time, I believe my father got sick because there was no control at all
The airports were not shut down on time."They did not even control the temperature of the passengers
This was known since January, first in China then Italy in February
They had two months to get ready and they did not do it."Her lament will be familiar to so many, far beyond Ecuador.
