Ecuador woman found alive after hospital declared her dead

Authorities had given the woman a misidentified body, highlighting a health system overwhelmed by the coronavirus

New Delhi,Published: May 6, 2020, 3:51 PM IST

An Ecuadorean woman in coronavirus-ravaged Guayaquil city learned on Friday that her sister was alive. This case weeks after cremating a misidentified body health authorities had released to her after declaring her sibling dead.

74-year-old Alba Maruri, who was declared dead from the coronavirus, has been found alive, in a case of mistaken identity.

The family of Alba Maruri were informed of her death last month and later sent what they were told were her ashes.

She was admitted to an intensive care unit on March 27 suffering from high fever and difficulty in breathing, and medical personnel told her family later that day that she had died. Maruri awoke from a three-week coma in hospital on Thursday and asked doctors to call her sister.

Her family was overjoyed at the news - but are unclear whose ashes they have in their home.

Aura Maruri, the sister said she doesn't know what to do with the ashes of the body they received by mistake.

The incident underlines the difficulties facing Ecuador, where the coronavirus pandemic has overwhelmed the health system and left sanitary workers struggling to collect and identify the burgeoning number of bodies.

Health minister Juan Carlos Zevallos told reporters that the case was under investigation, adding that health authorities guarantee the identification of corpses and hospitals keep track of the deceased.