Montiel: 'Nobody in Ecuador was prepared for something like COVID-19'

Ecuador commentator Daniela Abigail Montiel Macías says the South American country was ill-prepared for the pandemic crisis that has already claimed 403 victims.

Ecuador's largest city, Guayaquil, is one of the worst-hit places in Latin America by the coronavirus pandemic. Current confirmed cases stand at 8,225, but true figures are believed to be much higher. A relatively low testing rate probably means many cases are unreported.

Montiel says whole sections of Guayaquil disregard COVID-19 mitigation measures completely, and walk in the streets "as if it were a normal day", as Guayaquil's Mayor and the country's President bicker.

BBC reports Ecuador's health service is overwhelmed and hundreds of bodies are left unburied, sometimes lying in the street.

The official charged with collecting bodies in Guayaquil, Jorge Wadad, was quoted by BBC as saying that in the first two weeks of April almost 6,000 more deaths had been registered than the average for this time of year.