The coronavirus pandemic that shattered lives
throughout high-income countries is hitting the developing world as well. But
while many of the world’s poor countries affected by the virus have imposed the
same social distancing measures as rich ones, the results have not been the same
— and the unintended consequences are proving to be deadly.
Hunger and anger are building in major African cities with
little or no social safety net to protect the poor from the economic fallout of
the COVID-19 pandemic. The combination of widespread poverty, reliance on
imported food and price spikes due to the epidemic could prove deadly if
African governments don't act quickly
Africa’s poor are bearing the brunt of a nationwide shutdown
part of efforts to contain the novel coronavirus outbreak yet the choice before
them is often to stay home and fail to provide the evening meal for their
family, or to brave it out into the city and try and fend for their family.
Under new restrictions in some African countries, millions
who once lived on daily wages are running out of food. Many work as traders,
labourers or craftsmen in the informal sector, which accounts for 85% of
employment across the continent, and must now stay home with no savings as a
buffer.
And indeed, developing countries that have imposed lockdowns
have seen widespread defiance of those lockdowns. Governments
have frequently responded with escalating police violence to try to make
people stay home. But if people expect to starve at home, they’ll be willing to
risk the consequences of breaking quarantine if it means getting work and
feeding their family.
In most high-income countries, stay-at-home orders have
been a cornerstone of the coronavirus response. But we’re learning quickly
that taking a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t necessarily fit very well with
the needs of the developing world.
Even worse, the lockdowns, in addition to causing all sorts
of misery, are not even stopping the spread of the virus. Poor countries
now represent all of the countries where Covid-19 cases are growing most
rapidly. That’s because states don’t have the capacity to enforce lockdowns,
and citizens don’t have the luxury of obeying them, pushing them to disobey
government orders out of desperation.
Even rich countries have struggled — as they’ve locked down
— with the question of what to do next. Is the plan just to drag out the
epidemic to keep case numbers below hospital capacity? To stay shut down until
we have a vaccine? (No country in the world can afford such a shutdown.)
Those questions are even more urgent for developing
countries.
Much of the focus of suppressing the virus in rich countries
has been building hospital capacity so that people are not turned away from
needed medical care. In much of the world, though, that’s not achievable
We know some of what needs to be done to help the developing
world — lots of monetary aid and fast, shipments of medical supplies so doctors
can keep seeing patients. But there’s little will to do it, as o states fight
among themselves for desperately needed equipment.
A few steps have been taken to protect the developing world.
The G20 just agreed to a 12-month “debt standstill,” meaning the
world’s poorest countries can stop making payments on their debt to rich
countries for the next year. That should free up significant money for
coronavirus response.
But it falls far short of what developing-world experts have
been calling for. The emerging consensus is that what’s needed is a
comprehensive aid package from rich countries that enables achievable policies
like scaling up PPE purchases, universal aid to help avert mass
starvation, quarantines for the sick, and access to treatments and vaccines
once we know what the best options are.
And here’s the thing: Paying for virus relief in poor
countries is actually much cheaper than paying for it at home, because average
income is so much lower. The US has spent $2 trillion at home on mitigating the
effects of lockdowns. We could mitigate their effects in developing countries
for a fraction of that. Surely we could just pay for everyone in
low-income countries to stay home.
Realistically, though, there are no prospects of that
larger-scale aid package right now.
And that’s a moral failure by rich countries. It’s also a
strategic failure that could have devastating consequences. I think that the
virus is likely to become endemic due to countries that fail to suppress it —
meaning it will keep circulating the world regularly and making the regular flu
season much much deadlier
As I conclude, the world is living through unprecedented times.
The coronavirus (COVID-19) is causing anxiety, uncertainty, and disruption. As
is often the case, people living in hunger and poverty are suffering the most.
The pandemic should be a reminder that nowhere in the world
is safe while many parts of it lack the needed health infrastructure to protect
their populations. Now is the time to heed God’s call to care for the “least
among us.” #ZeroHunger #SDG2 #StopCoronavirus #Hope #StrongerTogether #Humanity
#Resilient #SDGs #Generosity #courageous #humanityfirst #humanspirit
#spreadlove #humankind #spreadpositivity #poverty #humanityandinclusivity
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