Bolivia added at least 1,600 new Covid-19 deaths to the Health Ministry’s official report on Sunday, bringing the country’s total tally to over 7,000. The maneuver raised doubts about whether the number of unreported cases and deaths is limited only to these new cases. The government in La Paz said that the update happened due to new data coming from the Santa Cruz department, where local authorities have been reporting a testing overload.
Close to its long-awaited election process on October 18 — which is still in doubt after the coup against former President Evo Morales in 2019 — every subject in Bolivia is politically charged. The “new” coronavirus deaths are no different.
On Twitter, former president and right-wing 2020 candidate Jorge Quiroga asked health officials about the case, calling it “negligence and criminal incompetence.” With that, Bolivia reached 600 deaths per 1 million inhabitants, already close to Brazil (603) and Chile (606). Peru tops the list with 905, the highest rate in the globe.
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