(May 21 – 27, 2020)
With almost 21,000 COVID-19 cases registered on May 22, representing one fifth of the total of 108,000 cases registered globally on the same day, Brazil is at the centre of the coronavirus crisis. The number of COVID-19 patients in this South American country has now reached 391,000, with 24,512 deaths and 158,593 recoveries. Currently, it is the second most affected country in the world by the number of infections. Since last week’s review by DevelopmentAid, globally the total number of COVID-19 patients has now reached 5.6 million with 350,453 deaths and 2.3 million recoveries, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Research Center.
Hunger is the greatest fear
The economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, such as job losses and critical declines in incomes, are among the key concerns in Latin America. The hunger caused by the coronavirus pandemic is feared more than the disease itself, according to Benedetta Lettera, Regional Manager for Action Against Hunger.
“This is a region where one in three people faced food insecurity even before the first appearance of COVID-19 cases”.
The restrictions imposed by the authorities have affected millions of people in the region. Their daily diets are worsening and are becoming increasingly difficult to sustain. Thousands are protesting against lockdowns, quarantines, layoffs and wage cuts in Ecuador, Peru and Argentina. At the same time, the authorities are struggling to contain the spread of the virus which, judging by the curve of new cases, has reached a critical level in recent days in many Latin America countries.
Across the world, the number of people who are experiencing starvation is on the rise according to a recent article by DevelopmentAid. Unless appropriate action is taken to mitigate the impact of the outbreak, the number of people in a state of food crisis in low and middle-income countries will double by the end of 2020 according to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) with 35 of those countries being identified as having suffered major food crises in 2019.
In focus: Personal Protective Equipment
The shortage of PPE – Personal Protective Equipment – and other medical products in low-income and developing countries has prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to intervene and provide support. Yesterday (May 26th), the organization reported that preparations were being made to ship more than 70 million medical masks, 3 million gowns, 28 million gloves, 15 million N95 Respirators, 1 million goggles and 9 million face shields to 126 countries.
At the same time, the organization has procured 4 million manual polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and 3 million sample collection kits for allocation to 135 countries. Furthermore, 4,000 oxygen concentrators, along with additional quantities of accessories and consumables (including oxygen cannulas, venturi masks, filters and other items) have been procured and allocated to 41 countries. The first deliveries are expected to be made within the next two weeks.
The WHO is also preparing to purchase additional biomedical equipment for allocation to countries in June which includes concentrators, ventilators, pulse oximeters and patient monitors.
In one of his daily briefings, the WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, mentioned that “over 400 hospitals in 35 countries are actively recruiting patients and nearly 3500 patients have been enrolled from 17 countries” as part of the Solidarity Trial which has been established to evaluate the safety and efficacy of four drugs and drug combinations against COVID-19.
Remittances fall – a harsh blow to poor nations
With anti-COVID measures and lockdowns in place in almost every country in the world, people are facing temporary or permanent job losses. This situation affects poor nations the most as they rely heavily on diaspora remittances. In its recent estimation, the World Bank predicted that remittances to low and middle income countries will fall by 20% or US$110 billion in 2020. Such remittances account for more than 5% of GDP in at least 60 developing countries. Tens of millions of people are on the verge of losing their main income.
Last week, the UK and Switzerland announced a joint call for greater global collaboration to make sure diaspora communities around the world could continue to send financial support to their families in developing countries.
Among other proposals, the call to action urges states and companies to:
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- Establish economic support measures that will benefit migrants and remittance service providers
- Support the development and scaling up of digital remittance channels for migrants and families
- Explore measures to provide relief to migrants (reducing remittance transaction costs, free cash collection and delivery)
- Invest in financial education and awareness (including digital remittance channels and available agent locations)
- Consider clarification of the compliance and license renewal requirements for remittance service providers during the crisis
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The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have announced their joint support for the initiative along with five other international organizations and seven states.
Violence on the rise
In its efforts to cope with the rising rates of violence against women and girls during the COVID-19 pandemic, the UNDP has called upon governments across the world to act urgently.
“Now, more than ever, there is a need to send a strong message that violence will not be tolerated, those who carry it out will be brought to justice, and survivors will be heard and supported,” Raquel Lagunas, UNDP Gender Team Acting Director.
The organization calls for stronger measures to tackle this serious issue, such as establishing emergency facilities like shelters and hotlines and supporting the police and the justice sector during the lockdowns. According to the UNDP, authorities should develop new protocols to provide support via phone or online platforms rather than in person, expand immediate response services and “most importantly, ensuring that steps to prevent gender-based violence are in every COVID-19 response plan and budget”.
International organizations released a new report last week that documents the major challenges to women’s access to justice in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Justice for Women Amidst COVID-19 was released by UN Women, IDLO, UNDP, UNODC, the World Bank and Pathfinders for Justice and is supported by The Elders. The report outlines ten policy recommendations to safeguard women’s right to access justice during the COVID crisis such as including women as decision makers, substituting full trials with interim orders and keeping the repeal of discriminatory laws on track.
The DevelopmentAid news-team is working hard to keep you up to date with the most important headlines and events during the COVID-19 pandemic. Become a member and subscribe to our newsletter in order to remain fully informed about the latest news in the International Development Sector.
The next DevelopmentAid weekly coronavirus review will be released on June 3, 2020.
About COVID-2019 Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are common in many different species of animals including camels, cattle, cats and bats. Rarely, animal coronaviruses can infect people and then spread between them such as was the case with MERS (2012) and SARS (2003).The symptoms of the virus are very similar to those of a common cold – runny nose, headache, cough, sore throat, fever, a general feeling of being unwell. Blood tests are necessary in order to prove the presence of the virus in the organism. Named by scientists as the “Wuhan seafood market pneumonia virus”, COVID-19 is a coronavirus, like MERS and SARs, all of which have their origins in bats. Initial reports show that, in the early stages of the outbreak (early January 2020), many of those infected in Wuhan had some link to a large seafood and live animal market – the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, mainly its western wing where wildlife animals are traded. This suggests that the virus initially affected an animal and subsequently spread to a person in a what a CDC has called “the species barrier jump”.
