By NewsDesk   @bactiman63

In a follow-up on the COVID-19 situation in Ecuador,  the National Institute for Public Health Research (INSPI) is now reporting 10,128 COVID-19 cases to date. This number includes 507 fatalities.

Of the two dozen provinces provinces in Ecuador, Guayas is by far the hardest hit with 6921 cases, or 68 percent of the total.

However, the death toll remains a question in Ecuador, according to authorities.

A RPP Noticias report (computer translated)  notes the disproportionate death rate in the province of Guayas in the first two weeksof April raises questions about the true extent of the pandemic in Ecuador.

According to the authorities, there is a gap of some 5,700 deaths in the province of Guayas , the most affected by the coronavirus -with more than 6,000 of those infected nationwide-, and where 2,000 people a month usually die from various causes.

After crossing figures with different State institutions, “we have approximately 6,703 deaths reported in these 15 days of April in the province of Guayas ,” the head of the Joint Task Force (FTC), Jorge Wated, said on Thursday.

He also indicated that the number of deaths in hospitals is “decreasing”, which is a “very encouraging measure”, but that the number of deaths reported in other registries appears to be much higher than normal.

Taking into account that the “usual monthly average (in Guayas ) is approximately 2,000 people”, the gap at this point would be about 5,700 deaths above the usual, which Wated attributed to “different causes: COVID-19, alleged COVID-19 and natural deaths.”

According to the Government Minister, María Paula Romo, it will not be possible to know the real cause of all the deaths because “tests are not being applied to all the people who died,” but “a protocol for data collection to have possible causes ”