Ecuador reports rapid rise of COVID-19, Most cases in Guayas province

By NewsDesk @infectiousdiseasenews

The number of coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19 cases have been rising rapidly in South America and Ecuador is among the countries seeing this occur. The first case of coronavirus was confirmed on Feb. 29.

On March 16, Ecuadorean health officials were reporting 58 cases. As of Wednesday, Mar. 25, the National Institute for Public Health Research (INSPI) has taken 4,290 samples of which 1,211 are positive for COVID-19.

The cases are distributed in the provinces are Guayas 885, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas 7, Esmeraldas 4, Manabí 38, Santa Elena 6, Los Ríos 40 and El Oro 17, Bolívar 11, Chimborazo 11, Imbabura 8, Tungurahua 2, Cotopaxi 2, Pichincha 108, Carchi 2, Cañar 12, Azuay 31, Loja 8, Sucumbios 6, Morona Santiago 7 and Pastaza 1.

Most patients remain stable in home isolation, while about 150 are hospitalized. 29 fatalities have been reported.

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The Ministry of Public Health currently has 27 hospitals for specific attention to coronavirus cases, 2,100 medical centers, and 133 hospitals enabled to attend to citizens for other types of consultations.

A state of emergency was declared on Mar. 11.

Elsewhere in South America, Brazil has reported 2,554 cases, followed by Ecuador, Chile (1,142), Argentina (502) and Peru (480).

The first COVID-19 case in South America was reported in São Paulo, Brazil in late February.