Bolivia's Minister Blames People for Dying From COVID-19

Bolivia's Interior Minister Arturo Murillo Tuesday blamed the people for dying from COVID-19, calling them "ignorants who play down the disease symptoms."

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"Don't wait until the last minute to go to the doctor," Murillo said during a new COVID-19 laboratory's inauguration in Cochabamba city.

The reality, however, is different, for patients who come to the doctor with COVID-19 symptoms do not always get the best of treatment. 

"When I went to the doctor with my 11-month-old baby, both of us presenting COVID-19 symptoms, they didn't want to treat us. They pushed us aside, and treated us like animals," Noemy Amaru told the local press.

Meanwhile, Cochabamba is reliving the chaos that Guayaquil city went through when the pandemic broke out in Ecuador in March.

Cochabamba''s funeral homes are collapsing as bodies pile up in their relatives' dwellings.

"The government does not address the health care system's shortcomings. They are mainly responsible for that people keep dying," Viedma Hospital's Infectious Disease Service Chief Christian Gomez assured.

As of Tuesday morning, Bolivia had reported 40,509 COVID-19 infections and 1,476 deaths. 

"We will have humanitarian chaos in the country. We have to think about how to respond to the crisis, and define what we should do when it is over," Gomez added.