Abstract
To face the pandemic outbreak of a novel coronavirus many countries developed a series of containment methods; however, developing countries in South America had reacted apathetically to this worldwide concern. Ecuador's response to the novel virus Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) started on February 26, 2020, one month after the outbreak began in China. As of today, the countries with more confirmed cases in South America are Brazil and Ecuador. Although Brazil has two times the number of cases than Ecuador (Brazil: 700 cases per 100000 people vs. Ecuador: 400 cases per 100000), the huge population difference between the two countries raises concerns about the public health policies implemented by the Ecuadorian government. Even though there is no cure for COVID-19, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are promising alternatives. The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has shown that there is room for improvement in the healthcare systems worldwide and the disastrous results on the fragile often unprepared are those systems in developing countries.
Highlights
BackgroundAlarm bells over the world started to ring after the news regarding a case of pneumonia caused by a novel virus in Wuhan, China
Ecuador's response to the novel virus Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) started on February 26, 2020, one month after the outbreak began in China
Even though there is no cure for COVID-19, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are promising alternatives
Summary
Alarm bells over the world started to ring after the news regarding a case of pneumonia caused by a novel virus in Wuhan, China. As did other countries did, Ecuador closed its land, air, and sea borders to citizens and non-citizens for 21 days [7,9].Restrictions to vehicular or pedestrian trafficand a national curfew from 7 pm to 5 am took place [9,10] Despite these measures, the virus continued spreading across the Ecuadorian provinces. While some studies support the animal-to-human transmission, including a case of a pet that tested positive for COVID-19, the CDC states that there is no evidence that pets can transmit the virus or present the symptomology of infection [17,18,19]. Zhou suggests hydroxychloroquine as an alternative treatment[32].Hydroxychloroquineseems to attenuate the progression to more severe scenarios of COVD-19 infection, its dosage still needs further study [31]
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