At the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Peruvian hospitals were on the verge of collapse, patients were lying in corridors for want of beds, and people were dying in the streets due to shortages of oxygen. Peru’s 32 million people are the worst hit per capita in the world, with almost 800,000 cases and more than 32,000 deaths since the pandemic started. The week of Sept. 23, the Ministry of Health reported more than 11,000 new cases and 185 deaths, and in the months of July and August, between 5,000 and 10,000 cases per day was common. Underpinning these losses were a deeply deficient health care system, coupled with financial mismanagement by the country’s leadership. Peru had initially hoped to avoid the scourge of the virus entirely.
On March 16, nine days after the first infection in the country was diagnosed and before anyone had died, Peru entered into a quarantine that, although intended to last only 15 days, is still in effect in some provinces and cities. Most businesses closed, and only essential establishments—such as hospitals, food stores, and banks—were able to remain open. These limitations did not prevent cases from reaching the thousands in a few days.
