Bolivia is one of the poorest countries in Latin America with a gross domestic product of around US$3500 per capita, health spending of approximately $220 per capita, a labour market dominated by informal work, and a weak health system. However, in the response to COVID-19, Bolivia has fared better than other health systems in the region and provides insight with regard to the implementation of subnational non-pharmaceutical interventions and supporting workers without social protection.

Read more: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(21)00001-2/fulltext

Our researchers Felicia Knaul and Michael Touchton were quoted in the following article in Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger in discussion about Latin America’s situation in the current pandemic. The following text is a AI-produced translation of the original article, available here.

As if Corona had never existed

In many large cities in Latin America, people are behaving as they were before the pandemic. That Could lead to a public health disaster.

by Simon Widmer, 09/23/2020, 1:13PM

On the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, the pandemic appears to be over. At least in the minds of the numerous people who linger on the kilometers of coastline of Ipanema or Copacabana. Children build sand castles, adults bathe in the sun or play volleyball. Hardly anyone keeps their distance or wears a protective mask.

Even more mobile than before the pandemic

In other large cities in Latin America, too, people are behaving almost like they did before the pandemic. Professors Michael Touchton and Felicia Knaul from the University of Miami systematically evaluated movement data in the region . The data shows that in five Brazilian states, people are even more mobile than they were before the Corona crisis. “Also in the state of Amazonas, which is particularly badly affected,” says Michael Touchton.

This finding is in line with Bloomberg’s analysis . In São Paulo the cars back up again during rush hour, the traffic in Mexico City, which fell to around 14 percent of the normal level in mid-April, is now at 70 percent of the pre-Corona level. In Santiago de Chile, people move only 13 percent less than before the Corona measures.

Of course, the desire to return to a life without major restrictions is understandable. Many Latin American countries imposed severe lockdowns in March. For long months, citizens were only allowed to leave their homes when absolutely necessary. Many workers in the informal sector were faced with existential difficulties. You work without a contract, without unemployment benefit or health insurance.

Eight percent of the world’s population lives in Latin America, but the region has a third of the world’s infections and deaths. The previous opening steps were not accompanied by any accompanying measures. “Many countries have lifted corona restrictions without setting up the tests and contact tracing. That is potentially very dangerous, ”says Felicia Knaul.

The rapid opening has now called the World Health Organization (WHO) on the scene. WHO Regional Director Carissa Etienne is critical of the easing strategies in Latin America. The region has started to return to normal social and public life, although major interventions are still needed to contain the pandemic. “We have to be aware that opening it too early gives this virus more space to spread and puts our populations at greater risk,” says Etienne.

Felicia Knaul regrets that Brazil and Mexico are precisely the most populous countries with the worst health policies. Both Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his Mexican counterpart Andrés Manuel López Obrador have downplayed the dangers of the virus, she says.

Tourism as a risk factor

Bolsonaro continues to maintain that Covid-19 is no more dangerous than the flu, and propagates the drug hydroxychloroquine, whose positive effect against the coronavirus is unlikely based on current scientific knowledge. López Obrador recently said flippantly that only when there was no more corruption in the country would he also wear a face mask. At the beginning of the pandemic, he had claimed that his honesty and amulets, which he had received from his followers, would protect him.

Carissa Etienne sees another risk factor: international tourism, which many countries want to stimulate again. International flights from some countries to Colombia have been possible again since the beginning of the week. From October Edelweiss will be offering a direct flight from Zurich to Cancun , Mexico . Etienne warns that governments need to monitor tourist traffic very carefully, as reopening to tourism could lead to setbacks. This has happened in the Caribbean, where several countries with virtually no cases peaked after tourism resumed.

Disclaimer: All content translated here belongs to Simon Widmer and Tages Anzeiger. It has been translated using Google’s page Translate for ease of reading by our Observatory’s online visitors.

The world has entered a ‘dangerous phase’ with the reopening, according to the WHO [Spanish; “‘El mundo entró en una ‘fase peligrosa’ con el desconfinamiento’: OMS”]

The general director of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned this Friday that the world has entered a new and dangerous phase in the fight against COVID-19 as countries reopen after quarantines and shutdowns. On Thursday, 150,000 new cases of COVID-19 were reported worldwide, with the majority in the US.

Quick molecular tests for detection of COVID-19 developed in Peru are ready [Spanish; “Pruebas moleculares rápidas para COVID-19 desarrolladas en Perú ya están listas“]

Scientists in Peru have developed a molecular test for the detection of COVID-19 that provides results within 40 minutes. The results of the new test are just as great or even better than current methods of PCR genetic testing used for detection of the new coronavirus.

American Airlines Bans Passenger Who Refused to Wear Face Mask [English]

Although the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has declined airline and union requests to make masks mandatory in flights, American Airlines and other US airlines have made their own policies requiring passengers to (AA) wear masks on their flights. This past Wednesday at LGA in New York, one passenger was ordered off his flight after ignoring crew requests to wear a mask, and is now banned from further AA flights while their mask policy is in place.

Demand for domestic flights in Brazil decrease 91% in May [Portuguese; “Demandas por voos domésticos cai 91% em maio”]

Overall demand for flights in Brazil have decreased significantly, with a 91% fall just in May for domestic flights. Demand for international flights fell 97% in comparison with the same month the previous year. Cargo transport decreased 54%.

Florida breaks another single-day record, with 3,822 new coronavirus cases [English]

Florida registered a daily record for the second day in a row in number of cases of COVID-19. More than half of all the cases in the state are within South Florida counties, including Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, and Monroe. Over 1.5 million people in the state have been tested, and almost 86,000 have tested positive for the virus as of now.

Vulnerable US Latino communities hard hit by COVID-19 [English]

Latino communities in the US are struggling with the spread of COVID-19 allover the country, from the suburbs of DC to farm areas in Florida. One of the reasons for the vulnerability of this community is that they “cannot afford to stop working,” as well as jobs that do not allow for social distancing, tight living conditions, lack of health insurance, mistrust of the medical system, and greater numbers of preexisting health conditions. In North Carolina, Latinos account for 45% of all COVID-19 cases.

The Coronavirus is killing many more young people in the developing world [Spanish; “El coronavirus está matando a muchos más jóvenes en los países en vías de desarrollo”]

COVID-19 is currently making its move towards the developing world, and while doing so, is changing the profile of victims of the disease. Opposite to what was seen in wealthier countries, the disease is killing more young people than older populations in the poorer countries, resulting in the need to understand the disease from a new perspective. In Brazil, people under 50 years of age account for 15% of deaths, which is more than 10 times greater than in Italy or Spain. In Mexico, about 1/4 of deaths are of people between 25 and 49 years old. In India, nearly half of deaths were of people younger than 60 years this month.

Colombia’s Medellin Emerges as Surprise COVID-19 Pioneer [English]

In Medellín, Colombia, only four deaths have been confirmed as caused by COVID-19, a remarkable number for a city with 2.5 million residents. This low number is the result of early preparation by government officials, as well as the use of an app early on to track data on the virus for containment. Although there was worry for privacy issues with the app, 1.3 million families voluntarily signed up for the app from the city and its surrounding areas, contributing to its efficacy in helping fight the local spread of the disease.

The US remove emergency approval for use of chloroquine [Portuguese; “EUA retiram aprovação de emergência para o uso de cloroquina“]

The FDA revoked its prior emergency authorization for the use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, citing lack of proof of its benefits and efficiency for the treatment of COVID-19. In Brazil, the medications are still recommended by the Health Ministry, and its use is publicly supported by President Bolsonaro, which caused tension that led to the exit of the last Health Minister, Nelson Taich. The decision by the FDA comes two weeks after the US sent Brazil a donation of two million doses of hydrochloroquine for use in combating COVID-19.

Running a red light: Mexico’s reopening [English]

Mexico has begun its transition into reopening the country, but the move might be too soon considering the current numbers of COVID-19 in the country. As the article states it best, “Mexico looks set to join India and others in applying a peculiar pandemic policy principle: if you can’t subdue the virus, subdue your quarantine instead.”

The pandemic threatens to leave 16 million Latin American in extreme poverty [Spanish; “La pandemia amenaza con dejar a otros 16 millones de latinoamericanos en la pobreza extremas”]

FAO and Cepal are warning of the potential scenario in the Caribbean and Latin America as COVID-19 advances in the areas. With the effect of the sanitary crises, a growing unemployment rate, limited access to fresh food, and rising prices in markets, millions are opting for cheaper food with lower nutritional values. The agencies suggest that governments work to give citizens a financial aid of about $47 dollars per person to guarantee households have enough to pay for food.

The pandemic is causing growing rejection towards globalization [Portuguese; “Pandemia faz acelerar rejeição à globalização”]

The IMF projects a 11% decrease in the global commerce market this year, without any outlook for recuperation in 2021. In an even more pessimistic projection, the WTO projects a 13% fall. The first pointer towards the global economic crisis was the spread of COVID-19 in China, considered a “global factory,” including Wuhan, the city identified with the initial spread of the virus. Wuhan is the headquarters for the Chinese production of automobiles and steel and houses multiple multinational businesses. Although it is early to make precise predictions, experts agree that the impact of the pandemic on the global market will be significant.

Starting today, the Observatory will dedicate this news section of the site to posting bi-weekly summaries of news stories in order to create a one-stop access to the latest information on the current global epidemic. These roundups will be posted every Tuesday and Friday, and will include articles from all kinds of sources as curated by the Observatory. The links shared here will be in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, and the languages of these articles will be specified in brackets after the links.

The “Flatten the Curve” Chart Was Ugly and Not Scientifically Rigorous. Why Did It Work So Well? [English]

Arguing towards the visualization of data, charts and graphs are more important than ever in aiding in the understanding of local and global situations, such as that of the current pandemic. The text describes how “pathogens can’t be seen by the naked eye,” reinforcing the idea that a cultural community of visual information is crucial to explaining, understanding, and combating a global crisis.

It’s Always Better to be Ready for the Worst
[Spanish; “Siempre es mejor estar preparado para lo peor”]

Many scholars and academic researchers are working towards developing models of prediction of patterns of COVID-19 in order to aid in informing and prevention of the disease. As the article describes, the pandemic has turned our society into a culture of numbers, and beyond being important for many public policy comprehensions, it also aids hospitals in understanding how to better prepare, plan, and dedicate resources appropriately.

Lockdown and school closures in Europe may have prevented 3.1m deaths [English]

Research conducted by the Imperial College London shows that the European measures of lockdown and closures were successful in preventing millions of deaths in countries like Spain, Italy, the UK, Germany, and Belgium.

Short-term forecasts of COVID-19 deaths in multiple countries [English]

Research done in a partnership between the Centre for Global Infections Disease Analysis, Imperial College London, and the University of Sussex show projections for countries in all continents for expected total deaths caused by COVID-19. Brazil, for example, is expected to have over 7000 deaths in the upcoming week, a difference of more than 100 cases than reported this week. Predictions of deaths in Mexico are also of increased numbers, from around 4000 deaths this week to about 5500 deaths next week. In Latin America, Colombia, Bolivia, Panama, Argentina, and Peru are also expected to increase in number of deaths caused by COVID-19, but the rise is not expected to be as significant as Brazil and Mexico.

App by Google Indicates Minimum Distance to Reduce Risk of Contamination by the Coronavirus [Portuguese; “App do Google indica distância mínima para reduzir risco de contágio pelo coronavírus”]

Sodar, an app developed by Google, works to aid in putting social distance in action. The user opens the app (which does not need to be downloaded and can be accessed directly through Google Chrome), points their phone to the floor, and receives an automatic measure of his radius towards the next person. This app can be useful in current global efforts of reopening public places such as shopping malls, schools, parks, beaches, businesses, and more.

Did COVID-19 Arrive on your Street? Interactive Map Allows Research in São Paulo [Portuguese; “Covid-19 chegou à sua rua? Mapa interativo permite pesquisa em São Paulo”]

Researchers from a university in São Paulo, Brazil, developed an interactive map that allows monitoring of cases and deaths by COVID-19 in communities, villas, and streets. The main finding from the project debunked a popular belief by showing that favelas, or the Brazilian slums, do not necessarily hold the greatest concentration of cases or deaths.