EVOLUTION OF COVID-19 IN ECUADOR

Abstract

The first case of COVID-19 in Ecuador was reported on February 29, 2020. The government immediately implemented measures to combat the disease, but during the first months the virus spread rapidly in coastal provinces due to a lack of evidence-based actions adapted to the local epidemiological situation in the absence of an open data system. For this reason, the objective of the article is to describe the evolution of COVID-19 in Ecuador, providing a tool that helps the authorities to control the disease effectively in each province. The methodology consists of collecting information from official sources on the number of infections, deaths and tests carried out to compare the rates of positivity, lethality and mortality at the global, Latin American and local levels. Likewise, the excess mortality in Ecuador was determined, considering as a reference the deaths of 2019. The results show that Ecuador has rates of positivity (64.97), lethality 5.86% and mortality per 10,000 inhabitants (1.04) above the world average and an excess mortality of 77.37% from March to August. Furthermore, being one of the countries with the lowest number of tests carried out, it is evident that the under-registration of data does not reflect the severity of COVID-19. In conclusion, it has not been possible to effectively control the pandemic, on the contrary, there are provinces that have shown an accelerated increase in cases since june and it is urgent to strengthen their health system and epidemiological surveillance.