"Mr. President, do not go away!" . In tears, visor and surgical mask on her face, a woman runs behind the convoy of Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra, visiting Arequipa, a city overwhelmed by the virus: she implores a hospital bed for her dying husband. He died two days later. Since Sunday, when it was shot, Celia Capira's video has gone viral. Her husband Adolfo Mamani died two days later on Tuesday at the age of 57.
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The drama of this 33-year-old shopkeeper and mother of three illustrates the distress that reigns in Arequipa, Peru's second city, where hospitals are overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic: they lack beds and oxygen, and patients wait around establishments in the hope of being treated. “They killed him, he was fine, we were told he was stable. This morning, I brought him breakfast, ” Celia told the medical staff on Tuesday, blaming him for the lack of attention, according to local media. "President, you must go and see in the tent, do not leave the hospital without seeing the conditions in which they (the patients) are", she had said in tears on Sunday near the Honorio Delgado hospital as the presidential convoy moved away. The Head of State had just visited this establishment.
Local media reported that Covid-19 patients were sleeping in tents set up near hospitals and others were spending the night in their cars parked nearby, hoping to get a bed and be treated. . Long queues have also been formed by patients who desperately want to buy medical oxygen at Honorio Delgado Hospital. Faced with this situation, the government adopted a decree authorizing the Ministry of Health to take control of hospitals in Arequipa.
President Vizcarra, for his part, assured that the government intended to bring the situation back to normal as soon as possible. On Tuesday, the head of state asked for forgiveness from Celia Capira, explaining that he had not seen her. "It is unfortunate that Ms Celia's husband is deceased, I offer him my condolences and sincere apologies for not having listened to her," he said. Peru is the second country in the region with the most cases (371,096), behind Brazil and the third in number of deaths (17,654), after the South American giant and Mexico.