Venezuela coronavirus cases spike, opposition warns healthcare system may be overwhelmed

Record ID: 1562447

  • Title: Venezuela coronavirus cases spike, opposition warns healthcare system may be overwhelmed
  • Date: 15th July 2020
  • Summary: CARACAS, VENEZUELA (JULY 14, 2020) (REUTERS VIA ZOOM) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER, JUAN GUAIDO, SAYING: "War exists in Venezuela and it's the dictatorship (referring to the administration of President Maduro) against our citizens. This is a regime that only wants to be privileged. They prefer buying luxury cars instead of ventilators."
  • Embargoed: 29th July 2020 16:40
  • Keywords: COVID-19 Venezuela Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro cases coronavirus increase lockdown opposition leader Juan Guaido pandemic quarantine
  • Location: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
  • City: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
  • Country: Venezuela
  • Topics: Health/Medicine
  • Reuters ID: LVA006CMX926F
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Coronavirus cases in Venezuela have jumped in recent weeks and two top lieutenants of President Nicolas Maduro have tested positive, triggering warnings from health workers that the pandemic may overwhelm the country's already battered healthcare system.
    Venezuela's case count began to accelerate last month and is rising by more than 30% every week, according to Dr. Julio Castro, part of a medical advisory team working with opposition leader Juan Guaido.
    President Nicolas Maduro says his government has handled the pandemic better than neighboring nations, noting its 10,010 cases - a figure disputed by the opposition - are a fraction of those in Colombia and Brazil.
    But the recent spike in the case count - which now includes Socialist Party Vice President Diosdado Cabello and Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami - signals that Venezuela's precarious health system will be tested by the pandemic.
    The country's hospitals already suffer from constant blackouts, lack of running water, and chronic shortages of basic supplies, according to human rights groups and health workers.
    On Tuesday (July 14), a government public health brigade were busily knocking on doors in Caracas to find out who had symptoms for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
    Medical experts have warned about weak hospital infrastructure, and say coronaries testing is limited because the government has only authorized a single laboratory to carry out tests.
    Maduro attributes the increased infection rate to the return of Venezuelan migrants from neighboring countries, saying it was a sign that Colombia and Brazil have mismanaged the pandemic.
    Maduro and members of his cabinet have talked about the "Colombian virus" and claimed it is a more aggressive strain, without citing supporting medical evidence. They have claimed that this, in part, explains the situation in the border state of Zulia, which has emerged as a hot spot for the disease.
    Some doctors in Guaido's medical advisory team dispute the idea of a Colombia strain of the virus, and say the Zulia outbreak has been driven largely by a breakdown of basic services such as power and water.
    (Production: Efrain Otero, Johnny Carvajal, Patrick Alwine)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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