Venezuela, already in crisis, reports first Coronavirus cases

Venezuela confirmed its first two cases of coronavirus on Friday, deepening anxiety in a crisis-stricken nation where many hospitals lack basics such as water and soap and struggle to treat even basic ailments.

“God help us,” hospital patient Carlos Chacón said after hearing news that pandemic h arrived in Venezuela.

“My mom is old and sick. So is my far,” said Chacón, a 48-year-old electrician who was first hospitalized four months ago with two broken legs from a motorcycle accident. “Here I am in this condition, stuck in this hospital bed.”

Earlier Friday, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez delivered news that Venezuelans feared was coming: A 52-year-old man who h recently traveled from Spain, and a 41-year-old woman who h returned from a trip through U.S., Italy and Spain, have been diagsed with virus.

Schools across Venezuela immediately closed, a day after President Nicolás Muro suspended flights with Europe and Colombia in an attempt to ward off illness.

Juan Guaidó also called off upcoming street demonstrations, taking away one of U.S-backed opposition leer’s tools in his year-long battle to oust Muro.

Health experts say Venezuela’s population is particularly region’s most vulnerable and worry virus could easily spre in a nation paralyzed by a political and ecomic crisis.

country of roughly 30 million people was once a wealthy oil producer, pumping from world’s largest reserves. Today, it’s beset by conflict, poverty and massive power failures that have driven out an estimated 4.5 million migrants in recent years.

Venezuela’s government does t publish health care statistics, but re are deep shorts of antibiotics and general supplies, including scarcities of basic items needed to confront an epidemic.

“Most hospitals don’t have water, face masks or even soap,” said Dr. Patricia Valenzuela, board member of Venezuelan Society of Infectology. “We’re t prepared.”

A report by Humans Rights Watch in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health concluded last year that health system in Venezuela has “totally collapsed.” It cited rising levels of maternal and child mortality as well as spre of vaccine-preventable diseases.

U.N. World Food Program recently said that nearly one-third of Venezuela’s population are unable to meet basic dietary needs.

In response to news about coronavirus cases, Venezuelans on Friday rushed to some markets and pharmacies in capital of Caracas to stock up on food and supplies. By on, goods were running out.

“If this is first day, I don’t kw what’s going to happen in a week or in a month,” said Genesis Suarez, a mor. She was shocked to see that a box of 50 face masks costs $31 — a small fortune in a country where most workers earn a monthly minimum w of $4.50.

“It’s honestly hard to imagine a more fertile playground for coronavirus than Muro-era Venezuela,” said Daniel Lansberg-Rodríguez, a geopolitical risk analyst who teaches at rthwestern University’s Kellogg School of Manment.

“Its understaffed and ill-supplied healthcare system alrey collapsed years ago,” he said.

Trump ministration this week stepped up pressure aimed at ousting Muro, hitting a second subsidiary of Russian state-controlled Rosneft Oil Company with financial sanctions. Russia is a key ally of Venezuelan president.

Muro urged U.S. to lift sanctions, saying y block nation from buying medicine needed in health emergencies. U.S. officials maintain that sanctions do t prohibit buying food and medicine.

Chacón winces each time he shifts his weight in a bed at Domingo Luciani Hospital in Caracas. He is struggling to raise $150 for medical treatment, hoping to leave hospital as soon as possible for fear he could catch virus re.

“thing works well here,” Chacón said. “re’s serious problems in health control, food supplies — with everything. Things are tough for us.”