Police, protesters clash at demo over health system

Paraguayan police cracked down on demonstrators in Asunción on Friday amid protests over the collapse of public hospitals after a record increase in coronavirus cases. Authorities deployed tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon trucks in their attempts to disperse protesters in the capital.

Hospitals across Paraguay have been left without basic drugs for intensive care patients. Since Wednesday, all scheduled surgeries in state hospitals have been suspended indefinitely so that resources are used to treat COVID-19 patients. Health Minister Julio Mazzoleni resigned earlier Friday over the crisis.

"With Congress, for the good of the nation, we have agreed that I leave the Ministry of Health to generate the peace we need," Mazzoleni said in an audio sent to The Associated Press by the Government Palace press office. Paraguay reported a further 1,501 virus cases on Friday, its highest daily total since the beginning of the pandemic. Overall the country of 7.6 million people has reported more than 165,000 infections and 3,278 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.