Many of the victims did not have access to adequate medical care
An archbishop in Peru has filled his cathedral in the capital, Lima, with more than 5,000 photographs of Covid-19 victims, and warned more people face death by starvation as a result of the economic crisis brought by the pandemic.
When the 84 pews were filled with the images, church workers covered the bases of the building’s columns. The victims included police officers, firemen and street-sweepers, and many died without receiving appropriate medical care, according to local media.
In a message broadcast during Sunday’s Mass, Archbishop Carlos Castillo sharply criticised the country’s health system, saying it was based “on egotism and on business and not on mercy and solidarity with the people,” AP news agency reports.
“An even harder moment is coming,” he was quoted as saying. “It would be terrible if in the times to come we have thousands of these photos – but dead of hunger.”
Peru has confirmed 6,688 Covid-related deaths and 229,736 cases. It has the second-highest numbers of deaths and infections in South America, after Brazil.(BBC)
