Coronavirus nightmare in Ecuador's port city Guayaquil - pictures Published duration 17 April Related Topics Coronavirus pandemic

image copyright AFP image caption A man in Guayaquil wears protective kit so that he can enter a morgue and identify a relative who died of Covid-19

Ecuador's port city of Guayaquil is one of the worst-hit places in Latin America in the coronavirus pandemic.

Its health service is overwhelmed and hundreds of bodies have been left unburied, sometimes lying in the street.

Officially Covid-19 has killed 421 people in Ecuador and infected 8,450, but the real figures are believed to be much higher. A relatively low rate of testing means many cases have probably gone unreported.

The official charged with collecting bodies in Guayaquil, Jorge Wated, said in the first two weeks of April almost 6,000 more deaths had been registered than the average for this time of year.

image copyright AFP image caption A furniture-maker and his wife are now making desperately needed coffins

image copyright Getty Images image caption A woman with her baby begs for help as the country suffers economic pain from the health crisis

image copyright Reuters image caption A man sports a Jesus face mask, hoping his faith will keep the virus at bay

More on the pandemic:

image copyright AFP image caption As in many other countries now, long queues form outside Guayaquil's pharmacies

image copyright AFP image caption Los Ceibos hospital has been expanded with this Covid-19 field hospital

image copyright Getty Images image caption The surge in deaths has forced people to make coffins out of cardboard

image copyright EPA image caption New tomb spaces are being created in the Angel Maria Canales cemetery in Guayaquil

image copyright EPA image caption A street vendor sells vitamin C supplements and face masks