People in Venezula are struggling to find basic necessities, such as medicines, bread and paper, while public hospitals have been turned into battlefield clinics in a country where there is no war, as the New York Times report.

Many infants and young mothers have died due to power blackouts which shut down the respirators in the maternity ward and lack of antibiotics.

“Some come here healthy, and they leave dead,” Dr. Leandro Pérez said, standing in the emergency room of Luis Razetti Hospital, which serves the town.

Gloves and soap have vanished from some hospitals, while at the University of the Andes Hospital in the mountain city of Mérida, there was not enough water to wash blood from the operating table and doctors preparing for surgery cleaned their hands with bottles of seltzer water.

“It is like something from the 19th century,” said Dr. Christian Pino, a surgeon at the hospital.

Low oil prices all over the world have hit the country, while prices of basic goods have been dramatically increased. Many are warning that the entire country is on the brink of collapse.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has imposed a 60-day state of emergency to “denounce, neutralise and overcome the external and foreign aggressions against our country”, which he blames for Venezuela’s economic problems.