Is Latin America ready for Coronavirus?
The novel coronavirus spread out globally in a matter of months, hitting Latin America last. The region will have to accept the challenges facing their countries as cases grow exponentially.
On February 26, 2020, coronavirus hit the first country in Latin America, Brazil. When the nation confirmed its first case in São Paulo, most of the countries across Central and South America began to take drastic security measures to protect their citizens, as well as their health care systems. Unfortunately, the virus inevitably spread to most Latin American countries, infecting over 4,000 throughout the region, and still counting. Although “the number of coronavirus cases in Latin America has not reached European proportions yet, governments are not taking any chances.”
But what exactly are these precautions? Are they enough to maintain the health systems in these countries stable? Will these measures protect those living below the poverty line? Besides national precautions, leaders from Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and the Dominican Republic agreed to create a regional contingency plan to deal with the pandemic. The plan is primarily “aimed at complementing national efforts for the prevention, containment, and treatment of COVID-19.”
If countries in Latin America do not take harsh and radical decisions right now, the devastation could look, unlike anything that has been seen in Europe or in Asia. It can be said, however, that Latin America has an advantage that the rest of the world did not have. Latin American countries were able to witness the rapidity and the consequences the virus left in Asia and in Europe. Having this information can help countries prepare for what is to come and implement what worked and what did not.
In Argentina, Costa Rica, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Honduras, and Peru, borders are currently closed to all non-resident foreigners. Most nations have also implemented travel restrictions to flights coming from Europe, specifically the Schengen Area and the United Kingdom, as well as flights from Iran and China. In Guatemala, this measure was taken more seriously and the country canceled all incoming flights, except those brining in cargo. Nevertheless, residents and citizens can enter the country via land. In Venezuela, flights coming from Europe and Colombia were also canceled for 30 days. In Costa Rica, El Salvador, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and Honduras, the government declared a state of emergency and ordered a national quarantine lasting at least 15 days. In Honduras, this measure is so strict, that those who fail to follow it could be subject to a jail sentence ranging from 6 months to 2 years. Other countries such as Puerto Rico, have implemented curfews (from 9 p.m to 5 a.m) to make sure everyone stays at home.
Nevertheless, out of all the countries, El Salvador has taken the most extreme measures and regulations. Besides border and travel control, all public transport units have to be sanitized three times a day, and the government “ordered all private companies to send employees who are over 60, pregnant, or who have an underlying medical condition, at home paid time off for 30 days.”
Big concern arises when thinking about Italy and Spain, which have struggled to contain the virus. These two European countries are nowhere near close to having the struggling public health care systems that Latin America has. In addition to this, it is worrying to think about what could potentially happen in these countries, considering that more than a third of the population in Latin America lives in poverty. Implementing self-quarantine in Brazilian favelas could be close to non-efficient, given the closeness and big populations of people that live in these communities.
Even before the coronavirus crisis began, the overall economy in Latin America was struggling to maintain afloat. Ever since the Odebrecht scandal in Brazil, the country has not been able to recover, Venezuela is still undergoing its seven-year recession, Colombia is facing massive inflation on the Colombian peso, and Mexico is facing a shortage of medicine and medical supplies.
Hospitals in Latin America invest less in healthcare than most regions, which is about $949 per capita every year; almost 4 times below the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average which is around $4,000. “The public sector in Latin America spends on average 3.7% of GDP in healthcare, while the OECD average is 6.6%.” In addition to this, hospitals already have to deal with other viruses such as dengue, zika, and chikungunya, which are common in the region, filling up hospital capacities even more. Another disadvantage Latin America faces as coronavirus cases grow is the large quantity of violence and homicides that take place in countries like Mexico, Colombia, and Honduras. “One-third of homicides in the world take place in Latin America.”
Sadly, the coronavirus pandemic will not reduce any of these other medical complications. With an estimated 70% of the Latin American population without access to basic health services, the upcoming months will definitely be a challenge in trying to treat those who get infected and to prevent the virus from spreading as much as possible.
