Aid groups are sounding the alarm on the potentially devastating consequences of a severe Covid-19 outbreak in low-income and conflict-ridden countries
A man wears a protective face mask as he rides a motorcycle amid fears of the spread of the coronavirus disease in Sanaa, Yemen March 16, 2020.
Across Africa, the official numbers are still relatively low with 83 deaths and over 3,200 confirmed cases on Friday, according to the African Union. Misty Buswell from the IRC said areas like the last rebel-held province in war-torn Syria, Idlib, which was already enduring a humanitarian crisis before the pandemic started, were particularly at risk.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres issued a stark warning last week: "If we let coronavirus spread like wildfire – especially in the most vulnerable regions of the world – it would kill millions of people." "On the day that Imperial College London has warned that close to 40 million lives could be lost without urgent action, the world's richest governments are still only warming up to the scale of the task," said Chema Vera, Oxfam's interim executive director.
France has 7,000 intensive care beds, compared to 100 or even a dozen in other less well-off nations. "In the most serious cases we won't be able to do anything," said Isabelle Defourny, head of operations at Doctors Without Borders .Imposing a lockdown and keeping infected people in quarantine will also be difficult in countries where a lack of social protection measures will force people to work.
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