Skip to main content

Latin CoronAmerica?

If you think where you live has been hit hard by COVID19, spare a thought for the poor people of Latin America. Cases of Coronavirus have been rising acutely. Back in May I wrote about COVID19 outbreaks
in Brazil. If anything, things have got worse, with over 3 million confirmed cases of Coronavirus. Second only to Trump's America.

It doesn’t get much better when you look elsewhere in the region. Picture a league table of the Top 10 COVID19 countries in the world, 5 of them would be Latin American. Mexico, Chile, Columbia and Peru, now join Brazil in having major outbreaks, with each country’s hospitals, groaning under the influx of new cases.

It was thought that the first confirmed Latin American case occurred in Brazil back in February. Recently evidence has emerged that the first cases actually occurred in January. The virus seems to have found exactly the right conditions to thrive and flourish. Spreading down through Central to South America, while racking up over 5 million cases and over 200,000 deaths. 

Just as in other countries across the planet, COVID19 seems to seek out the poorest people, who are forced to live cheek by jowl. Brazil and Mexico are testament to this, with a combined death toll of over 150,000. Peru, Chile and Columbia have added to this sad metric with an estimated 45,000 deaths.  

Unlike in most European countries, where Coronavirus deaths have been falling, Latin America’s body count shows no sign of diminishing any time soon. The Pan American Health Organisation issued a sobering message, saying COVID19 is now spreading ‘exponentially’ across a continent that’s become an epicentre for the disease. 

Even these horrendous numbers coming out of Latin America may not be accurate, due to cases and deaths being under-reported. A study from the Hospital das ClĂ­nicas da Universidade de SĂŁo Paulo, estimates these figures could easily be multiplied by five.  

The Brazilian University puts this lack of certainty down to a glaring lack of Coronavirus Testing. Chile leads the way in Latin America with 92 Tests per 1,000 people. Unfortunately, according to Our World in Data, (a U.K. project dedicated to collecting COVID19 statistics), Chile is surrounded by countries with Testing levels well below that figure.

So, what are South American Governments doing to save the lives of their people? Chile immediately enforced lockdowns when case rates rose dramatically. Meanwhile the Mexicans and Brazilians were more laissez-faire, handing out guidelines rather than restrictions. Then karma showed up, when Brazil’s very own nut President Jair Bolsonaro firstly downplayed the risks, then promptly contracted Coronavirus himself!

An American global health professor held nothing back saying, ‘the response in Brazil is far from ideal and currently there is a lack of a uniform message coming from the leadership at different levels.’ Ouch! Well the Americans would know all about leadership issues in these troubled times. (No names, no pack drill.)

Just when COVID couldn’t get crazier, it did. In El Salvador street gangs have been dishing out punishment to those who fail to observe curfews in their territory. This behaviour has become a common occurrence across Latino ganglands. But if you harbour romantic notions of benevolent bands of Zorros policing their turf out of the kindness of their hearts, don't.

Playing the good-hearted outlaw is an old Mexican cartel card trick. Where it pays to blur the line between criminals and the State. Even the notorious drug lord, ‘El Chapo’ is in on the act. His daughter has been handing out Coronavirus aid packages with his picture on it, to cash-strapped Mexicans. After all, you’re not going to bite the hand that literally feeds you, are you? x




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sorry Coronavirus, Tech don’t do lockdown!

To paraphrase William ‘Braveheart’ Wallace, COVID19 may take our lives but it will never take...OUR TECHNOLOGY! This nasty strain of Coronavirus has knocked mankind for six, whisking many of us off to meet our makers but Tech, like rust never sleeps. Humanity’s innate ingenuity will always find a way to shine, even in the darkest of times. Unsurprisingly the Digital Age we live in has come to the fore, allowing business and life in general to get back to some semblance of normality. Or as we now call it in Brave New Coronavirus World the ‘new normal’. These digital wonders are literally propping up our daily lives. Techno tools that are proving essential in keeping us moving forward and not grinding to a shuddering halt.   This leap in technology during COVID19 has gathered real momentum. We all need to be in a permanent state of digital readiness. Staying current to whatever technology dreams up next, will not only be essential to a business but to the country that business is lo...

COVID-America goes postal!

Tonight, Americans go to the polls, care of the United States Postal Service. The right will vote for another four years of President Trump, while the left of right will vote for other old white guy. Will this unique, pandemic postal vote prove fatal for the Orange one? We are hours away from finding out.  While election day is nearly upon us, COVID-19 has been surreptitiously sweeping through Red and Blues States in a most unbiased manner. The big question is, can the average Joe and Joanna in Main Street, U.S. vote fairly, without exposing themselves to the dangers of an indiscriminate killer.  November 3rd will see America’s fate, decided by a record number of votes cast by mail. Ballots have been distributed by a number of states to everyone eligible to vote. This Herculean task, labelled the ‘Postal Experiment’, is proving popular with voters, with almost 2/3rds saying they’d vote using them. Predictably, President Donald’s not buying it, referring to the postal vote as a...

DON’T follow the COVID-19 Leaders!

President Donald J Trump (the J obviously stands for genius), is not the first world leader to come a Coronavirus cropper. After months of downplaying the threat of COVID-19, Karma paid the Orange Man in the White House a visit. Both he and his sultry First Lady, have been diagnosed with the virus. Which is kinda ironic just as COVID-19 clocked up 1 million deaths, worldwide.  Donald’s brush with the COVID Reaper couldn’t have come at a better or worse time, depending on how the Washington spin doctors decide to spin it. With the President behind Joe Biden in every poll, the U.S. Presidential Election is less than a month away. Trump’s America not only finds itself in the grip of a deadly pandemic but is experiencing economic and racial meltdown. To say nothing of the daily Sitcom playing out in the Supreme Court.  Will Trump emerge from his hospital bed weaker or stronger in the eyes of the American people? A tough guy, smack bang in the middle of the cross-hairs of a deadly ...