Honduran authorities seek land for possible coronavirus mass graves
By Gustavo Palencia
TEGUCIGALPA, April 3 (Reuters) - Honduran authorities on Friday ordered mayors to locate land suitable for mass graves as concerns over the possible death toll from the fast-spreading coronavirus in the poor Central American nation mount.
President Juan Orlando Hernandez, whose government imposed a strict curfew in an attempt to stop the spread, has warned that "this is just the beginning" of coronavirus in Honduras and that things were about to become "much more difficult".
"Local governments must locate land suitable for mass graves in case mass burials are needed because the number of corpses exceeds capacity," said a statement issued by the National Risk Management System.
In several cities across the country, including the buzzing capital Tegucigalpa and the northern city San Pedro Sula, people have not obeyed social distancing rules or the curfews imposed on March 15, a Reuters witness said.
Coronavirus was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year but has since infected more than one million people, killing more than 50,000, a Reuters tally showed.
Honduras has so far registered 222 cases and 15 deaths. (Reporting by Gustavo Palencia; Editing by Stefanie Eschenbacher)
