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How does coronavirus affect your pocket? 6:37
(CNN Spanish) - The coronavirus pandemic has aggravated pre-existing crises in several countries and that could leave a tragic balance of 1 billion infected cases and up to 3.2 million deaths, according to the alert of the International Rescue Committee (IRC). in their most recent report.
Among the 34 countries in crisis that distinguishes IRC are Colombia, El Salvador and Venezuela.
“We are dealing with a global crisis, but before there were other humanitarian crises. It does not mean that with the covid-19 they stopped, and we cannot assume that all countries have the capacity to respond using the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), ”Meghan López, regional director of America, explains to CNN in Spanish. Latina for IRC.
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The IRC came up with these chilling figures based on data from Imperial College London and the WHO. "Those figures are great because they look at the age structure, household size, social contact and contagion rates," explains López.
Tokyo 2020 could be at risk even in 2021 0:37They also take into account factors such as the country's economy, demographics, and estimated response capacity.
This last point is one that IRC uses to determine if a country is fragile or in crisis.
Fragile can mean a lot of things. Afghanistan is not Venezuela, it is not Nicaragua, it is not Mexico, but it is what we are measuring is the ability of the State to respond to a crisis. So, for example, how many hospitals exist and how many are enabled, how many ICU beds exist, how many doctors, ”adds López.
A woman walks in downtown San Salvador, El Salvador, within
the government- established health perimeter . (CORTEZ / AFP via Getty Images)
The IRC also takes into account other measures outside the health landscape, such as the State's ability to respond to situations of violence, and whether the country has high rates of gender violence, among others.
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Case by case
López spoke to CNN in Spanish about the particularities of the three Latin American countries on the list of nations in crisis.
In the case of El Salvador, he mentioned the strong public health controls.
"That can be very beneficial in limiting cases, but there are also replicas of those decisions where people are locked up in communities that are under gang control," he explains.
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El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele authorized the use of deadly force by the police and the army against gang members who, he says, are taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic after a weekend of violence that left at least 50 people murdered across the country.
He also cracked down on gang members already in prison, ordering 24-hour confinement in seven of the country's high-security prisons, placing metal sheets over jail cells, and housing prisoners from different gangs together. .
How does coronavirus affect your pocket? 6:37López also points to other factors in El Salvador, such as that women and girls end up locked up "where there is one of the highest rates of violence against women, early pregnancy ... and now they are locked up with the same people who are known to generate these situations. It is not a secondary crisis, it is the impact that the population is experiencing. It is not enough just to mention the infection rate, you have to see it more holistically. ”
On the other hand, in Colombia they point to the humanitarian crisis due to Venezuelan migration and previous health needs.
Drivers wear face masks in Bogotá,
Colombia. (JUAN BARRETO / AFP via Getty Images)
López explains that there are Colombians who have returned, Venezuelans who are trying to return to their country. “It is a multifactorial crisis, populations have previous health needs, they are living in unsuitable situations in the crisis. With the pandemic it is important that we not only see it as a health crisis, but as a multifactorial crisis because health and economic issues are extremely important, ”he adds.
The Colombian crisis is tied to the Venezuelan one. In that country, added to the deep political, economic and social instability, the border with Colombia was closed for the coronavirus, stopping the flow of Venezuelans seeking medical attention, food and work in Colombian territory. "(Venezuela) is like a pressure cooker where there is no escape," explains López.
IRC: An international response is needed
Can these countries in crisis do something to avoid reaching the figures predicted by IRC?
"We are still in the critical window of time to mount a robust preventive response to the early stages of covid-19 in many of these countries and prevent further perpetuation of this epidemic globally," David Miliband, president and director, told CNN Executive of the International Rescue Committee.
López highlights the measures that countries have taken to close the borders, prohibit international flights for non-citizens and measures to restrict mobility.
MIRA: Up to 1 billion coronavirus infections are forecast in crisis-affected countries such as Colombia, Venezuela and El Salvador
"Still, it is extremely important that there is an international response, that we do not allow a global crisis to be the impulse to close our eyes and look inward only, and to be only focused on the response of each country, because the reality of the pandemic is that it is something global, you cannot just see what will happen in El Salvador, for example, because we are all interconnected, ”says López when asked if there is anything these countries in crisis could do to stop the contagion.
“These countries that require humanitarian response already have few resources because, since these crises have lasted so long, they have tried to moderate resources and require international support, they require coordination. Finally, recognizing that this crisis is not going to have a quick response, it is not that we can put them on the mask and next week it was already, we have to make long-term action plans where we seek to return to reality and normality, but it has than being measured ”, he adds.
CNN en Español has sought comment from the governments of Colombia, Venezuela and El Salvador on the report and has not yet received a response.
The 34 countries affected by the crisis to which the IRC refers are: Afghanistan, Burundi, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of the Congo, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Greece, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Venezuela and Yemen.
With information from Flora Charner, Simon Cullen and Tatiana Arias from CNN.