Ecuador Registers 29,071 COVID-19 Cases and 1,717 Deaths

Ecuador's Emergency Operations Committee (COE) Saturday reported that this South American nation has registered 29,071 COVID-19 cases and 1,717 deaths from the disease 

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There are also 1,912 "probable deaths", a term that President Lenin Moreno's administration uses to classify people who are suspected of dying of coronavirus but have not been subjected to forensic verification.

According to official figures, 3,433 people have recovered, 6,950 patients have received an epidemiological discharge, and another 2,566 people have been discharged from hospital.

The Guayas province, whose capital is Guayaquil, is the region most affected by the pandemic as it has 11,577 positive patients and concentrates 57.9 percent of the total number of infections in the country.

The Pichincha province reported 2,064 cases and 99 deaths, and the Manabi province has 1,195 patients and 226 deaths.

Similar to what has happened in previous days, however, the presentation of these official data generated outrage in the population due to the information's inconsistencies.

"Ecuador closes the first week of progressive economic reactivation plus distancing with inconsistencies in the COVID-19 figures" local outlet BN reported and recalled that the official number of confirmed cases decreased from 31,881 on May 4 to 28,818 on May 8.

Nevertheless, the Health Ministry argued that its data has changed due to corrections that have been made since the first COVID-19 case was announced on February 29.

In this Andean country, social discontent has also increased due to the reporting of alleged corruption cases related to the handling of the pandemic.

In one of the latest scandals, the Secretary of Risks Alexandra Ocles appeared involved in the purchase of food kits that were purchased at a noticeable premium.​​​​​​​