(COVID -19) Coronavirus in the Americas Lessons Update 7

World Health Organization (WHO)
COVID-19 (World) situation report
Oficial overview and information

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) 
COVID-19 (Americas) situation report

UN chief calls for greater protection for children caught up in COVID-19 crisis. In a statement on the new findings, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for urgent action to support the world’s children amid the universal crisis. “Thankfully, children have so far been largely spared from the most severe symptoms of the disease. But their lives are being totally upended”, he said. “I appeal to families everywhere, and leaders at all levels: protect our children.”

The report finds that the socio-economic impact of the pandemic, together with measures to mitigate the spread of the new coronavirus, could potentially be catastrophic for millions of children worldwide. It details how the crisis is putting young lives at risk in key areas that include education, food, safety and health... Read more

Policies and Strategies

Permanent Council Approved Resolutions on Virtual Meetings and OAS Response to COVID-19. In the first virtual meeting in its history, the OAS Permanent Council approved two resolutions. The first, titled "Virtual Meetings of the Permanent Council due to the COVID-19 Pandemic" and the second, "The OAS Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic". The two resolutions were approved by acclamation... Read more

Coherent Policy Response Needed to Overcome Coronavirus Crisis in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region is seeing a sharp decline in growth due to the Covid-19 (coronavirus) crisis, which requires several policy responses to support the most vulnerable, avert a financial crisis, and protect jobs, according to a new report form the World Bank.

o help the vulnerable face the loss of earnings from the lockdown, existing social protection and social assistance programs should be rapidly scaled up and their coverage extended, according to “The Economy in the Time of Covid-19,” the latest semiannual report from the World Bank’s Chief Economist Office for Latin America and the Caribbean... Read more

Coronavirus in the Americas, live: latest news from Covid-19. Latin America exceeds 4,000 deaths from the virus.Trump presents a plan to resume activity in mid-June. Bolsonaro dismisses the Brazilian Minister of Health. Mexico extends restrictions until end of May... Read more

Tools 

MSMEs will be able to make free web pages for their businesses in 15 minutes. Small and medium-sized companies will have the opportunity to make web pages free of charge in 15 minutes for their businesses, thanks to a partnership made by Mintic, the OAS and Kolau. The initiative is aimed at all MSMEs in the country, especially small neighborhood businesses, such as shops, bakeries and drugstores, among others, which require maintaining a communication channel with their close customers, so that they know them and can access the same... Read more

COVID-19 Educational Disruption and Response. Most governments around the world have temporarily closed educational institutions in an attempt to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. These nationwide closures are impacting over 91% of the world’s student population. Several other countries have implemented localized closures impacting millions of additional learners.

UNESCO is supporting countries in their efforts to mitigate the immediate impact of school closures, particularly for more vulnerable and disadvantaged communities, and to facilitate the continuity of education for all through remote learning... Read more

Resources for Ministries of Education: COVID-19 crisis response. The Technical Secretariat of the Inter-American Committee on Education (CIE) has put together the following resources to make them available for Ministries of Education of the region in order to support their work during the COVID-19 crisis. CIE is a permanent ministerial dialogue mechanism responsible for the development and follow-up on the lines of action established by the Ministers of Education to respond to the mandates emanating from the Inter-American Meetings of Ministers of Education, the General Assembly and the Summits of the Americas... Read more

IDB Coronavirus Impact Dashboard. Daily and weekly data on changes in COVID-19 cases, traffic congestion, public transport and air quality...Read more

Opinion and analysis

Earth Today | No ‘Recession’ For Climate Change. “Climate change is not going into recession because of COVID-19. Things are really accelerating right now, like in the Arctic and Greenland where the ice sheets are melting at a much faster rate than predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,” Renowned physicist Professor Anthony Chen told The Gleaner. Eleanor Jones, head of the consultancy firm Environmental Solutions Limited, is of a similar view.

“We have to take charge of our own vulnerability. We know we are vulnerable and need to ensure that our own path takes that into account. Nobody is going to come in and do it for you,” she said... Read more

Women health workers: Working relentlessly in hospitals and at home. Women globally make up over 70 per cent of workers in health, including those working in care institutions. They are on the front line of the fight against COVID-19. As a result of the pandemic they are facing a double burden: longer shifts at work and additional care work at home. Take Alberta Delle Grazie. She is the Head Nurse of an intensive care unit in a hospital in the North of Italy. Her work entails long hours, night shifts, and a high level of responsibility. “It was already difficult before,” she told me, “but right now, after three weeks of the COVID-19 emergency, we are exhausted, worried and emotionally drained. Many of us have been infected, some have died.”... Read more

Harvard study suggests that social distancing could continue until 2022. Single confinement will not stop the new coronavirus, and repeated periods of social estrangement in 2022 will be required to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed and the health system from collapsing, scientists at Harvard University in the United States said Tuesday, simulating the trajectory of the pandemic. The study occurs when the United States reaches the peak of its number of COVID-19 cases - with more than 26,000 deaths and 600,000 infections - and the States of that nation observe an eventual relaxation of the harsh restrictive measures... Read more

Recommended Events - Past & Future

[Webinar]: Analyzing the behavior of air pollutants during the Covid-19 global lockdown. With millions of people sheltering in place as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, cities across the world are seeing dramatic changes in the behavior of air pollutants resulting from sharp drops in regional traffic, commerce and industrial activity. 

Data compiled by air quality monitoring stations in Latin American cities have shown major improvements in air quality over the past weeks and in the same period one year ago. Although this might not be the general outlook for all cities, the current situation offers a momentary view into what happens to the air we breathe when emissions are reduced in a radical and sudden way... Read more
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llSustainability After COVID-19: Voices from Leading International Organizations (GGGI, OECD, UNEP and the World Bank). In this webinar, we will hear from leading institutions - the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Bank - on critical questions around sustainability after COVID-19... Register

Virtual Conference: Global Cooperation for the Environment: Policy, Technology, and Action. To celebrate 50 years since the founding of Earth Day, the Wilson Center invites you to join us for a reflection on global cooperation for the environment through the lens of policy, technology, and action. The world has changed from the first Earth Day, with landmark wins balanced by new challenges—ocean plastics, climate change, water insecurity—affecting environmental policy and action. Wednesday, April 22, 20209:00am - 12:00pm... Livestream