Nicaragua Coronavirus Update: Nation’s COVID-19 Death Toll Could Be Nearly 10 Times The Official Figures

An independent tally of COVID-19 deaths in Nicaragua suggests that the number of people who lost their lives to the novel coronavirus could be ten times the official numbers being reported.

In Nicaragua, the bodies of the people who lose their lives to coronavirus are being quietly and swiftly being transferred from the hospital for burial in the dead of the night.

One such hospital, which has become a key battleground for the country’s fight against COVID-19 is the German Nicaraguan hospital in Managua. Several ambulances reach the hospital at night, with no sirens wailing, and remain there for about half an hour.

Afterward, the ambulances leave in silence and come back later to repeat the task. Apart from the ambulances, trucks are being driven by men in protective gear, who take away the bodies of COVID-19 victims in Nicaragua all day.

The German Nicaraguan hospital is the only facility in the country designated to handle COVID-19 patients. The access to the hospital, however, is severely restricted with military men stopping the relatives of the victims and the journalists from entering the facility.

The government of Nicaragua has so far downplayed the impact of COVID-19 in the country and has even refused to impose social distancing measures while encouraging the public to gather in support. President Daniel Ortega has consistently said that only a few deaths have been reported and there are no signs of community transmission.

However, doctors and health workers have claimed that the COVID-19 victims in Nicaragua are taken from “express burials” in the dead of the night. They say that most of the coronavirus-related deaths in Nicaragua are due to pre-existing conditions such as respiratory illness, hypertension and diabetes.

The “express burials” involve wrapping the deceased in plastic and placing them in a sealed casket. But the dead who are taken away at night from the only hospital handling coronavirus cases in Nicaragua is not being reported in the official Covid-19 death toll.

“They keep saying that it wasn’t Covid-19 – that he died of respiratory problems. But if that’s true, why did they send him to be buried straight away – and why were just two family members allowed at the burial?” said Ana Gabriel Bermúdez, whose grandfather died of “respiratory illness” at the hospital.

The growing number of express burials reports by family members of the deceased have only added to the belief that the official COVID-19 death toll being reported is not true.