World’s poor at risk as virus lockdowns eased
SAO PAULO – As many countries gingerly lift lockdown measures, experts worry a further surge of the new coronavirus in underdeveloped regions with shaky health systems could undermine efforts to halt the pandemic, and they say more realistic options are needed.
Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, India and Pakistan are among countries easing restrictions, not only before their outbreaks have peaked but also before any detailed surveillance and testing system is in place to keep the virus under control. That could have devastating consequences, health experts warn.
“Politicians may be desperate to get their economies going again, but that could be at the expense of having huge numbers of people die,” said Dr. Bharat Pankhania, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Exeter in Britain.
He said reimposing lifted lockdown measures was equally dangerous.
“Doing that is extremely worrying because then you will build up a highly resentful and angry population, and it’s unknown how they will react,” Pankhania said. As nearly every developed country struggles with its own outbreak, there may be fewer resources to help those with long overstretched capacities.
At the United Nations, the U.N. secretary-general called for action to avoid a “global food emergency,” saying more than 820 million people are hungry, about 144 million children under the age of 5 have stunted growth, and the pandemic is making things worse.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said there is more than enough food to feed the world’s 7.8 billion people, but “our food systems are failing.”
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said Monday the pandemic was “worsening” globally, noting that countries on Sunday reported the biggest-ever one-day total: more than 136,000 cases. Among those, nearly 75% of the cases were from 10 countries in the Americas and South Asia.
Wealthy countries in Europe and North America hit first by the pandemic are training armies of contact tracers to hunt down cases, designing tracking apps and planning virus-free air travel corridors. But in many poor regions where crowded slums and streets mean hand-washing and social distancing are difficult, the coronavirus is exploding now that restrictions are being removed.