In the city of Iquitos in northeastern Peru, the bodies of coronavirus victims are piling up on the floor of the mortuary. In this video posted on Twitter, dozens of bodies are seen taped up in black plastic with what appear to be their names pinned to their chests. There is no room left in the mortuary refrigerator and so the dead are lying on gurneys, across the floor and on top of each other. It is unclear how long they have been here for.
In another video, people wearing protective clothing push a body wrapped in plastic off a trolley and on to the floor. There are already at least five bodies – encased in plastic shrouds – already lying on it.
In this part of the Amazon, a place dubbed ‘the lungs of the world’ by environmentalists, people are dying from lack of oxygen. “When the pandemic started, the majority of patients started to have respiratory problems’ Dr Carlos Calampa, regional health director for the area of Loreto and the capital Iquitos, told ITV News.
