COVID-19 pandemic in Venezuela

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COVID-19 pandemic in Venezuela
Line for gas during the pandemic in Miranda
Disease	COVID-19
Virus strain	SARS-CoV-2
Location	Venezuela
First outbreak	Wuhan, Hubei, China (global) Brazil, Colombia, Italy, Spain and the United States (imported)
Index case	Miranda State
Arrival date	13 March 2020 (4 years, 1 month, 3 weeks and 4 days)
Confirmed cases	376,311[1] (as of 5 October 2021)
Active cases	4137[1] (as of 5 October 2021)
Recovered	357,339[1] (as of 5 October 2021)
Deaths	4,539[1] (as of 5 October 2021)
Territories	Capital District, all 23 states and 1 federal dependency
Government website
covid19.patria.org.ve coronavirusvenezuela.info

Crisis in Venezuela
Causes Bolivarian Revolution Chavismo Economic policy under Hugo Chávez Economic policy under Nicolás Maduro
Effects Refugee crisis Blackouts Energy crisis Defections International sanctions Interventions of political parties Piracy Shortages Venezuela–Colombia migrant crisis Hyperinflation Catatumbo campaign Xenophobic incidents Pemon conflict
Events Dakazo La Salida Arrest of Antonio Ledezma 2016 recall movement 2017 Venezuelan constitutional crisis Lima Group 2018 re-election campaign of Nicolás Maduro Venezuelan presidential crisis 2019 shipping of humanitarian aid to Venezuela Venezuela Aid Live COVID-19 pandemic 2022 recall movement 2023 Unitary Platform presidential primaries
Elections 2013 presidential election 2015 parliamentary election 2017 referendum 2017 Constituent Assembly election 2018 presidential election 2020 parliamentary election 2023 referendum
Protests 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Timeline 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Armed violence Caracas helicopter incident 2017 National Assembly attack Attack on Fort Paramacay El Junquito raid Caracas drone attack 2019 uprising attempt 2020 Barquisimeto shooting Operation Gideon (2020) 2021 Apure clashes 2022 Arauca clashes
Venezuela portal
v t e

The COVID-19 pandemic in Venezuela was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first two cases in Venezuela were confirmed on 13 March 2020;^[2][3] the first death was reported on 26 March.^[4] However, the first record of a patient claiming to have symptoms of coronavirus disease dates back to 29 February 2020,^[5] with government officials suspecting that the first person carrying the virus could have entered the country as early as 25 February.^[6]

Venezuela is particularly vulnerable to the wider effects of the pandemic because of its ongoing socioeconomic and political crisis causing massive shortages of food staples and basic necessities, including medical supplies. The mass emigration of Venezuelan doctors has also caused chronic staff shortages in hospitals.^[7]

To prevent the spread of the disease into Venezuela, the governments of Brazil and Colombia temporarily closed their borders with Venezuela.^[8][9][10] The Colombian government had placed 1 October as a tentative date for reopening the border.^[11]

In February 2021, Venezuela started vaccinations with the Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine and a vaccine produced by the Chinese company Sinopharm. It aimed to vaccinate 70 percent of the population by the end of 2021. An academic survey found that by the 1 September 2021, 10% of the Venezuelan population was fully vaccinated.^[12] By the end of 2021, Venezuela had administered 30,049,714 doses of vaccine, about 52.7% of the country's population.^[13][14]