COVID-19 pandemic in Ecuador

The COVID-19 pandemic in Ecuador 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 virus was reported to have spread to Ecuador on 29 February 2020, when a woman in her 70s tested positive for the virus. Ecuador was described in April as emerging as a possible "epicentre" of the pandemic in Latin America,^[5] with the city of Guayaquil overwhelmed to the point where bodies were being left in the street.^[6]

As of April 2020, Ecuador has been distributing cardboard coffins due to the country's struggle in evacuating the dead bodies.^{[7][8][needs update]} The government built emergency cemeteries to dispose of the bodies which are left in the streets.^[9] The pandemic, which led to a fall in oil prices, had severe economic repercussions for the country.^[10]

The number of deaths is believed to be significantly higher than the official figure due to a low rate of testing, with thousands of excess deaths reported compared to the equivalent figure for a normal period.^[11][12] An analysis by The New York Times found that 7,600 excess deaths had occurred from 1 March 2020 to 15 April 2020 as the mortality rate spiked to three times as much as usual, indicating that the official death toll at the time was an underestimate by 15 times; a later analysis showed 36,200 excess deaths between March and September, over three times the official number of COVID-19 deaths.^[13][14]

On May 14, 2020, it was reported that 40 protesters peacefully protested against the government for improper handling of the bodies of people who died due to COVID-19 and providing insufficient funds for the pandemic. The police charged on the demonstrators and injured them in the process.^[15]

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