A silent decimation: South America’s losing battle against Covid

Strained and underfunded health systems, economics and misinformation have all led to a surge in deaths

The cold, tired and desperate relatives camped outside the Barrio Obrero general hospital in Asuncion don't need charts or datasets to confirm what they can see with their own eyes.

As Paraguay records the world's highest daily proportion of Covid deaths, the huddled families wait for news of their loved ones - and for the sudden requests for medicine and supplies that the country's chronically underfunded health system cannot provide.