Disaster Zone

COVID-19: South America Is Next Up for Transmission

The next hot spot on the globe.

May 01, 2020 •

From the NY Times:

A crisis unfolding in Latin America

The pandemic appears to be ebbing in much of Asia and Europe, but it has yet to peak in Latin America, where it took hold later and where some leaders have been dismissive of the threat.

Brazil has been hit hardest in the region, with more than 80,000 cases and 5,500 deaths. President Jair Bolsonaro has resisted imposing shutdowns and stay-at-home orders, and has called Covid-19 a “measly cold.”

Nicaragua, the poorest country in Central America, has told its people to keep living as usual, and it is one of only a few nations in the world to carry on with professional sports.

The Trump administration and some major U.S. companies have pressed Mexico to allow American-owned factories there to stay open, despite fears that their workers are at particular risk of contracting the virus.

The rationale is often that the plants make things the military or the health care system needs. The company that owns Sharpie and Paper Mate, for example, has argued that doctors and nurses need pens.

But Mexican officials have warned that companies are not doing enough to protect workers. One factory even put chains on its doors to prevent employees from leaving, according to the labor secretary of Baja California.

Reverse migration in Peru: Driven by job losses and fear of infection, thousands of people in Lima and other cities are fleeing to rural areas — and potentially carrying the virus with them.

Eric Holdeman

Eric Holdeman is a contributing writer for Emergency Management magazine and is the former director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.

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COVID-19: South America Is Next Up for Transmission

The next hot spot on the globe.

A crisis unfolding in Latin America