The COVID-19 pandemic was reported to have spread to Ecuador on 29 February 2020. That was when a woman in her 70s tested positive for the virus. Ecuador was described in April as the growing "epicentre" of the pandemic in Latin America.
Deaths
The city of Guayaquil had so many deaths that bodies were left in the street. Ecuador gave out cardboard coffins because the country had difficulty removing all the dead bodies. The government was planning to build emergency cemeteries to dispose of the bodies which are left in the streets.
Vaccination
In April 2021, newly elected President Guillermo Lasso said that his main priorities after being inaugurated would be to increase the COVID-19 vaccination rates in the country. Lassos said he aim for bilateral talks with Russia, China, the United States, the European Union and Chile to try to acquire vaccines.
Numbers
The number of deaths was believed to be higher than the official figure because not enough testing was being done. A New York Times analysis found 7,600 more deaths had happened from 1 March to 15 April as the mortality rate spiked to three times as much as usual. That showed that the official death toll was lower than the actual death toll.