The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Peru has risen sharply in recent days. Dozens of frontline health care workers have taken to the streets to protest severe shortages of face masks and protective gear.

Nurses from one public hospital in the capital Lima complain that dead bodies have been stored for days in public spaces. Others say they do not have enough medical equipment, including face masks, to protect themselves from the virus.

"We have to use three face masks for a whole month, so we re-use it and re-use it…Where I work, colleagues have become infected," Rosmini Ayquipa, a nurse said during the protest.

According to Johns Hopkins data, as of Wednesday, Peru has almost 18,000 COVID-19 patients. It is second only to Brazil with the highest number of confirmed cases in Latin America. Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra predicts the rapid increase in the number of patients with the coronavirus will soon exceed the hospital capacity in the country.

Fortunately, much-needed shipments of more than 300-thousand COVID-19 rapid tests have arrived from China along with sanitizer, masks and protective medical gear.

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