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Evolution and early government responses to COVID-19 in South America.

ABSTRACT: This article analyses the evolution of COVID-19 and early government responses to the pandemic in eight South American countries. To this aim, this study explores indicators which trace the progression of the pandemic and analyses factors related of state capacity which impacted on the early response of governments of implementing restrictive policies of social distancing associated with a suppression strategy. The pressure on the health systems is evaluated with early projections of the growth-phase of the epidemic, which is incorporated as an indicator in the analysis of early interventions based on Cox proportional hazards models. The results indicate that fiscal expenditure on health, regional and local government capacity, and pressure on the health system accelerate government response with stringent interventions. A counter-intuitive finding is that the economic strength of a country delays these types of reactions. The effect of these interventions is something that should be studied in greater depth, considering, for example, sociocultural factors. Lastly, only cases such as Uruguay and Paraguay show some signs of having the pandemic relatively under control by mid-May, while Brazil and Peru face very adverse scenarios. In this context, considering the characteristics of the states in the region and the level of informal employment, it will be a public policy challenge to keep the equilibrium between restrictive measures and the economic and social problems which these responses imply in the medium term.

SUBMITTER: Gonzalez-Bustamante B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7473024 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Evolution and early government responses to COVID-19 in South America.

González-Bustamante Bastián B

World development 20200904

This article analyses the evolution of COVID-19 and early government responses to the pandemic in eight South American countries. To this aim, this study explores indicators which trace the progression of the pandemic and analyses factors related of state capacity which impacted on the early response of governments of implementing restrictive policies of social distancing associated with a suppression strategy. The pressure on the health systems is evaluated with early projections of the growth- ...[more]

PMID: 32921879

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Project description:BackgroundDisabled people are particularly exposed to the risks of COVID-19, as well as to the measures taken to address it, and their impact. The aim of the study was to examine the disability-inclusiveness of government responses to COVID-19 in four South American Countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Peru.MethodsWe conducted documentary research, using framework analysis to analyse reports, legislation, decrees, and other official documents that communicated measures taken in response to the pandemic, published from February 1st until May 22nd, 2020. We included documents reporting measures that affected disabled people either directly (measures specifically designed for disabled people) or indirectly (measures for the general population). We developed an analytical framework based on recommendations for disability-inclusive response to COVID-19 published by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Carribean, the World Health Organisation, and other international organisations.ResultsWe analysed 72 documents. The findings highlight that while some positive measures were taken, the needs of disabled people were not fully considered. Several countries published recommendations for a disability-inclusive response to COVID-19, without ensuring their translation to practice. All countries took at least some steps to ensure access to financial support, health, and education for disabled people, but at the same time they also implemented policies that had a detrimental impact on disabled people. The populations that are most exposed to the impacts of COVID-19, including disabled people living in institutional care, were protected in several cases only by recommendations rather by legislation.ConclusionsThis study illustrates how the official government responses taken by four countries in the region - while positive, in several aspects - do not fully address the needs of disabled people, thus further disadvantaging them. In order to ensure response to COVID - 19 is disability inclusive, it is necessary to translate recommendations to practice, consider disabled people both in mainstream policy and in disability-specific measures, and focus on the long-term reconstruction phase.

Dataset Information

Evolution and early government responses to COVID-19 in South America.

Publications

Evolution and early government responses to COVID-19 in South America.

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