The Caribbean has been comparatively successful in managing COVID-19 from a public health perspective, able to seal borders as an island archipelago to achieve a measure of virus containment.

A heavy reliance on tourism, however, has left the Caribbean region exposed to severe economic downturn, widening inequalities in its society.

During this live webinar on November 19th, Sandeep B. Maharaj (Associate Dean Distance Education, Projects and Planning, Faculty of Medical Sciences Lectures & Coordinator Pharmacy Administration, School of Pharmacy, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine), Jan Yves Remy (Deputy Director, Shridath Ramphal Centre, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill), and Clive Landis (Pro Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Studies and Chair COVID-19 Task Force, The University of West Indies) analyzed the COVID-19-related situation in the Caribbean, including the current U.S.-Caribbean trade relations, the testing and mortality rates, and the capacity of public health systems. The presentations were moderated by Felicia Knaul (Director of the Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas and Professor of the Miller School of Medicine of the University of Miami).

The webinar was in English with audio simultaneously translated to Spanish.

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The Caribbean has been comparatively successful in managing COVID-19 from a public health perspective, able to seal borders as an island archipelago to achieve a measure of virus containment.

Join our speakers Sandeep B. Maharaj and Jan Yves Remy, along with commentator Clive Landis and moderator Felicia Knaul, as we discuss next Thursday the situation in the region and outlooks on economic and trade policy for future sustainable development of the Caribbean.

The webinar will be conducted in English with simultaneous translation to Spanish available.

Follow us on social media for more updates: Twitter @mia_umiami / Facebook @univmiamiMIA / YouTube Observatory of COVID-19 in the Americas

Latin America continues to be the global epicenter for COVID-19. With only 8% of the world’s population, it has 36% of average daily deaths.

Peru ranks 42nd in global population and 7th in COVID-19-related mortality, while Argentina ranks 31st in global population and 14th in COVID-19-related mortality.

During this live webinar on September 30th, former Argentinian Health Minister Dr. Adolfo Rubinstein and former Peruvian Health Minister Dr. Patricia Garcia analyzed the COVID-19-related situation in Latin America. They also emphasized how the pandemic has affected Argentina and Peru specifically, including the economic impact of COVID-19 on unemployment. The presentations by these health experts were moderated by Dr. Felicia Knaul, director of the Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas and professor of the Miller School of Medicine.

The webinar was in Spanish with the presentation slides in English. The audio in Spanish was simultaneously translated to English.

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In op-ed published in the Miami Herald this past weekend, Dr. Felicia Knaul and Dr. Michael Touchton discussed their analysis of the current situation in Latin America in regard to the pandemic of COVID-19.

Two of the main researchers of UM’s Observatory, Knaul and Touchton explained that political leaders’ dismissal of the severity of the pandemic and limited public health-related campaigning for combating the disease added to the severity of the situation in countries like Brazil and Mexico. To them, coronavirus has become “a national public-health crisis, not a left-wing or right-wing crisis.”

COVID-19 does not ask its victims about political preference. Yet, one cannot tell that from Bolsonaro’s rhetoric or from mayors’ and governos’ policy responses.

Felicia Knaul and Michael Touchton

The researchers further point out that countries in the Latin American region with populist leaders, like Brazil, had time to prepare for the pandemic “but chose not to. Instead, Bolsonaro wasted valuable time and claimed that COVID-19 would ‘disappear’.”

Read more: https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article245658545.html

Latin America is a global hotspot for COVID-19. With only 8% of the world’s population, it has 43% of the average daily deaths (about 5.5 million).

During this live webinar on September 2nd, Dr. Rafael Lozano, director of Health Systems at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluations (IHME) presented projections until December 2020 for Latin America alongside the newest data of mobility and public policy from the UM Observatory presented by Dr. Felicia Knaul, director of the Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas at the University of Miami (UM). The two were joined by Dr. Michael Touchton, Dr. Julio Frenk, Dr. Rifat Atun, and Dr. Patricia Garcia in this webinar that was simultaneously translated into English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

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