COVID19 AND THE WORLD

INDIA: COVID 19 AND DOMESTIC

VIOLENCE
In India, the state-run National Commission for Women reported a total of 257 complaints
received through email alone related to various offenses against women from March 24
(when the lockdown was announced) through April 1. Out of these, 69 incidents related to
domestic violence. NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma told the media that complaints are
increasing every day. She suspects that the number of such cases must be much higher, but
many are not getting reported due to the constant presence of the abuser at home.
It’s a story that is playing out around the world. Since mid-March, the U.S. National
Domestic Violence Hotline has received over 2,000 calls from individuals citing the
coronavirus lockdown as a factor in their abuse. Lebanon and Malaysia too, have seen the
number of calls to help lines double since the start of the pandemic, the UN reports,
compared with the same month last year. In China, the number of calls has tripled.
Source: The Diplomat: https://thediplomat.com/2020/04/india s-shadow-pandemic/)

TRANSCRIPT OF THE VIDEO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjWe_s33HU8
India has been under a three-week lockdown which started on March 24th. 21-day lockdown
due to the corona virus has been announced by the prime minister. The country is almost in
the middle of this entire lockdown process. There are many challenges as far as this entire
lockdown process across the country is concerned.

There is another horrifying aspect of this lockdown which has now emerged with reports
still coming in. I'm talking about domestic abuse, domestic violence against women. There
has been a sharp increase in the number of cases according to the National Commission for
women which said that about 69 cases have been reported from 24th of March to 1st of April.
This in comparison to normal circumstances is a sharp increase. The National Commission
of women in fact they attribute that many of these cases could be as a result because of
frustration which is setting in and especially among men, those who are sitting at their
houses, not able to go out to their work to other activities which in turn is being taken out on
the women in their houses. A very, very disturbing scenario as far as the rising number of
domestic violence cases is concerned.

One or two complaints every day I am receiving directly on my email ID. In spite of they are
sending many complaints on our NCW dot make to attend our website, they are registering
their complaints, there they are sending me personal emails, they are sending by my
members directly, they are even sending to my staff. This time I've seen different kind of
complaints. Because of the lockdown we may not have not been able to reach to the police
and they don't want to go to the police because they are afraid that if husband comes out
come from the police station, after a day or two again he will torture and he/she can't even
move out now.

The big worry for the National Commission of women is that many of the women especially
in the semi urban rural kind of setting they don't know how to operate emails or send you
know just a message to save themselves as a complaint or to seek help. Most of these women
write and with the Indian Post also getting affected, the railways are not working the flights
are not in fact taking the post from one place to another, many of these women from the rural
setting specially used to write and send letters to the NC WS complaints that is not coming
in and that could also be one reason that they are not getting the larger picture across the
country but this worrying phenomena, this worrying trend is not only being reported from
India. It has now become a global problem.

I'll take you through some of the example. According to the media reports, calls to online
services and domestic violence cases in United States has significantly increased while the
gender-based cases has doubled in India during the first week of the restricted movements.
There are cases of increase in the number of women not only being assaulted physically but
also being murdered in Turkey. Many of these cases have risen. 90,000 gender-based
violence cases have also been reported from South Africa. In United Kingdom the National
domestic abuse helpline has seen a 25% increase in their calls. Now in addition the
Australian government has also reported a 75% increase in online searches for support on
domestic violence. In France, in fact the French Minister has gone on record and given a
statement that domestic violence rose 32% across France and 36 percent in
Paris in the first week of the nationwide lockdown that was announced in France to fight the
coronavirus. Meanwhile this has been acknowledged at the highest level at United Nations
as well the UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres has in fact said that there is a horrifying
trend of increasing the number of cases of domestic abuse and violence against women and
he is called upon all the countries to react and in fact act on this on urgent basis.

In some countries the number of women calling support services has doubled in wireless
care providers and police are overwhelmed and understaffed. Local support groups are
paralyzed or short of funds. Some domestic violence shelters are closed others are full. I urge
all governments to make the prevention and redress of violence against women a key part
of their national response plans for COVID-19.

This is a very horrifying side effect as far as the lockdown due to coronavirus is concerned
while there'd be social and economic changes but this upward trend of violence against
women is deeply disturbing and to all the women there if there is an assault if there is any
case of you know violence against you or you are suffering at the hands of somebody in your
house, please pick up the phone, dial the authorities, call the police, don't suffer in silence,
make sure that you report these cases.
SYRIA: COVID19 AND THE REFUGEE CRISIS
The COVID-19 pandemic is disproportionately impacting the world’s most vulnerable.
Among them are more than 70 million forcibly displaced people worldwide –refugees,
asylum seekers, internally displaced people (IDPs) as well as migrant workers, including
undocumented migrants.

Many of these men, women and children live in formal and informal camps, reception
centres, or in detention centres. Others live on the streets in informal housing arrangements.
Most lack access to basic services such as clean water, sanitation or inadequate access to
healthcare, and many don’t have a legal status.
Source: Medecins Sans Frontieres: https://www.msf.org/covid-19-andpeople-move

TRANSCRIPT OF THE VIDEO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CimIyMhlUX0
Hundreds of thousands of tents in Idlib lined up by the Turkey-Syria border. Most are
overcrowded and lack basic facilities and many living here are worried that makes them
more vulnerable to an outbreak of coronavirus. Aid workers here are briefing people on how
to cope if there is an outbreak.

“I don't know anything about it. I just heard. I'm learning about it now.”

Some say inadequate sanitation puts them at greater risk

“Protection come on! we lack water, how can we wash our hands?”

They are getting help in sterilizing tents and houses but in a country that suffered nine years
of war, much infrastructure is damaged. Medical supplies are insufficient and health workers
scarce. Health officials are warning that about 100,000 people could die in Northwest Syria
if they don't get the supplies and equipment they need.

“We just have100 ICU beds and we just have 50 ventilators for adults and when we speak
about response for corona we have to mention about the number of adult ventilators. Those
ventilators serve now 3.2 million person so now I can say that we don't have one empty
ventilator ready to receive corona patient.

This device is one of only three in Idlib that can detect coronavirus.

“We received three test kits yesterday from the World Health Organization. Each can do 100
tests. It won't be enough for millions but at least we can confer if we have a case.”
So far blood samples from just a few people have been studied. The government has
confirmed some cases of the virus across the country but as the fight is ongoing here so it's
trade and that contact with the outside brings the risk of people being infected. Idlib is
dependent on foreign aid and donors for medicine and hygiene products. Some health
workers here say they have yet to respond effectively to the situation, leaving many who
have suffered nine years of war vulnerable and scared as they face the threat of a global
pandemic.

BRAZIL: COVID19 AND THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

The coronavirus  (COVID-19)  pandemic  poses  a grave  health threat to Indigenous peoples
around the world. Indigenous communities already experience poor access to healthcare,
significantly higher
rates of communicable and noncommunicable diseases, lack of access to essential services,
sanitation,  and  other key  preventive measures, such as  clean water, soap, disinfectant, etc.
Likewise,  most  nearby  local medical facilities, if and when there are any, are often
underequipped and under-staffed. Even when  Indigenous peoples are able to access
healthcare services,  they can face stigma and  discrimination. A key factor is to ensure these
services and facilities are provided in indigenous languages, and as appropriate to the
specific situation of Indigenous peoples.

Indigenous peoples’ traditional lifestyles are a source of their resiliency, and can also pose a
threat at this time in preventing the spread of the virus.  For example, most indigenous
communities regularly  organize large traditional gatherings to mark special events e.g.
harvests, coming of age ceremonies, etc. Some indigenous communities also live in
multigenerational housing,  which  puts Indigenous peoples and their families, especially the
Elders,  at risk.

As the number of COVID-19 infections rises worldwide, as well as the high mortality rates
among  certain vulnerable groups  with underlying health conditions, data on the rate of
infection in Indigenous  peoples are either not yet available (even where reporting and
testing are available), or not recorded by ethnicity. Relevant information about infectious
diseases and preventive measures is also not available in indigenous languages.

Indigenous peoples experience a high degree of socio-economic marginalization and are at

disproportionate risk in public health emergencies, becoming even more vulnerable during
this global pandemic, owing to factors such as their lack of access to effective monitoring
and early-warning systems, and adequate health and social services.

As lockdowns continue in numerous countries, with no timeline in sight, Indigenous peoples

who already face food insecurity, as a result of the loss of their traditional lands and
territories,  confront even graver challenges in access to food. With the loss of their
traditional livelihoods, which are  often  land-based, many Indigenous peoples who work in
 traditional occupations and subsistence economies or in the  informal sector will be
adversely affected by the pandemic. The situation of indigenous women, who are often the
main providers of food and nutrition to their families, is even graver.
Source: United Nations :
https://www.un.org/development/desa/ indigenouspeoples/covid-19.html
TRANSCRIPT OF THE VIDEO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M2l6fTD2cs

The coronavirus may feel like it's everywhere but your chances of surviving it depend on
where you are in many cases. Indigenous people, remote communities, they're especially
vulnerable if the virus arrives there. Sometimes they're just so far away from the health
system, it's difficult to get sanitizing supplies to them to prevent sickness and no hospitals
around if they do get sick.

Fear of the corona virus has caused many to seek even more distance pushing deeper into
jungles and forests further away from the virus but also further away from help.

In today's COVID 19 special, what the coronavirus means for people living in isolated
parts of the world. My sister in Far North Queensland for example she says she feels safe
being so far away from it all but what about indigenous communities. They're under
strict lockdown and extremely susceptible to disease. Same case in the Amazon, the
virus not only poses a threat to its inhabitants but also to rainforest itself.

Brazil's indigenous peoples are afraid. this tribe in Minas Gerais State is worried that the
corona virus could soon spread to them.

“We are asking for help because we indigenous peoples are neglected by the state. We are
afraid that we will starve because nobody knows how long the corona crisis will last.”

There's hardly any intact rainforest left to flee to so this tribe is forced to tough it out. It's a
very different story further north in the Amazon basin here many Native communities are
taking control of their own destiny by shutting off their reservations and putting up
barriers against intruders and against the virus. Experts believe the virus poses more of a
threat to indigenous people than other communities.

“We know that indigenous people gets sick faster, develop more severe symptoms and are
much more likely to die from it.”

Their immune systems are more susceptible to viruses of all kinds this is why some of the
tribes have even withdrawn into the jungle just like the alwah seen here in pictures from
before the corona virus. The alwah live far from the nearest settlement, they hunt monkeys
and live on berries from açaí palm trees they live as they did over 30 years ago when they
were completely isolated. Criminals are taking advantage of the retreat of the indigenous
people to destroy parts of the rainforest. Authorities report a 50% increase in deforestation
“The invaders are lumberjacks, gold miners and illegal hunters. They bring diseases with
them. The Brazilian state must now drive all illegal intruders out of there.

In the capital of Amazonas State Manaus hospitals are already reaching capacity and
already there are coronavirus related deaths among indigenous people. In 2019 a dam
owned by a mining company collapsed killing hundreds it was a disaster for the indigenous
people in Manaus. Mining waste poisoned the rivers and now there's the danger of
coronavirus.

“Our river is almost dead because a criminal act by a mining company caused a disaster.
Because of this we can no longer grow anything.”

Multiple dangers for a community with little to no protection.

CHINA: COVID19 AND WILDLIFE TRAFFICKING

COVID-19, a new disease linked to a novel coronavirus, has caused a worldwide health
pandemic. Connections to the wildlife trade as the source of the virus has spotlighted the
devastating impacts this trade can have on human health and economies. The origin of the
outbreak is believed to have been in a “wet market” in Wuhan, China, that sold live and
dead wildlife and domestic animals along with other foods for human consumption. The
World Health Organization has determined that COVID-19 is a zoonotic disease, meaning it
originated from an animal. Other zoonotic diseases to date have included SARS, Ebola, Bird
Flu, and MERS (transmitted from mammals and
birds). Its exact origins are still unknown, but COVID-19 is suspected to have originated in
bats and may have jumped to humans via an intermediary wild species.
Source: World Wide Fund for Nature
https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/covid-19and-wildlife-trade-perspectives-and-
proposedactions

TRANSCRIPT OF THE VIDEO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPpoJGYl W54
It was New Years Eve, 2019 when health officials in China admitted they had a problem.
Health authorities have activated their most serious response level. After an outbreak of a
new type of viral pneumonia In central China.

A rapidly growing number of people were developing a dry cough and fever, before getting
pneumonia. And for some, it turned fatal. Doctors have named the disease COVID-19 or
“coronavirus disease, 2019” indicating that a type of virus is causing the illness. When
they’d tried to trace its origin, they found a likely source: This food market in Wuhan.
Out of the first 41 patients, 27 had been here. It wasn’t conclusive evidence, but Chinese
officials quickly shut down the market. They had seen this happen before at a place just like
this. Health officials are trying to get a grip on an alarming outbreak of SARS. The virus
originated in mainland China. Then spread across the country. The disease had been
festering for months in southern China.

In 2002, a coronavirus had emerged at a very similar market, in southern China. It

eventually reached 29 countries and killed nearly 800 people. Now, 18 years later, this
coronavirus is in at least 71 countries and has already killed over 3100 people.

So, what do these markets have to do with the coronavirus outbreak… and why is it
happening in China? A lot of the viruses that make us sick, actually originate in animals.
Some of the viruses that cause the flu come from birds and pigs. HIV/AIDS comes from
chimpanzees. The deadly Ebola virus likely originates in bats. And in the case of the 2019
coronavirus, there is some evidence it went from a bat to a pangolin before infecting a
human.

While viruses are very good at jumping between species, it’s rare for a deadly one to make
this journey all the way to humans. That’s because it would need all these hosts to
encounter each other at some point. That’s where the Wuhan market comes in. It’s a wet-
market. A kind of place where live animals are slaughtered and sold for consumption. Peter
Li is a professor and expert on China’s animal trade.

“That’s exactly how a virus can jump from one animal to another. If that animal then comes
in contact with or is consumed by a human, the virus could potentially infect them. And if
the virus then spreads to other humans, it causes an outbreak. Wet-markets are scattered
all over the world, but the ones in China are particularly well known because they offer a
wide variety of animals, including wildlife.”

This is a sample menu, reportedly from the market in Wuhan. These animals are from all
over the world and each one has the potential to carry its own viruses to the market. The
reason all these animals are in the same market is because of a decision China’s
government made decades ago.

Back in the 1970s, China was falling apart. Famine had killed more than 36 million people.
And the communist regime, which controlled all food production, was failing to feed its
more than 900 million people. In 1978, on the verge of collapse, the regime gave up this
control and allowed private farming. While large companies increasingly dominated the
production of popular foods like pork and poultry, some smaller farmers turned to catching
and raising wild animals as a way to sustain themselves. And since it started to feed and
sustain people, the Chinese government backed it. But then in 1988, the government made
a decision that changed the shape of wildlife trade in China. They enacted the Wildlife
Protection Law which designated the animals as “resources owned by the state” and
protected people engaged in the “utilization of wildlife resources”.
The law also “encouraged the domestication and breeding of wildlife.” With that, an
industry was born. Small local farms turned into industrial-sized operations. For example,
this bear farm started with just three, and eventually grew to more than 1,000 bears.Bigger
populations meant greater chances that a sick animal could spread disease. Farmers were
also raising a wide variety of animals. Which meant more viruses on the farms.
Nonetheless, these animals were funneled into the wet-markets for profit. While this legal
wildlife farming industry started booming, it simultaneously provided cover for an illegal
wildlife industry. Endangered animals like tigers, rhinoceroses, and pangolins, were
trafficked into China. By the early 2000s, these markets were teeming with wild animals
when the inevitable happened. The latest on the deadly SARS virus, the worldwide death
toll up again today.

China has reported more than 1,400 cases of infection nation-wide. It is what health
officials have feared all along. In 2003, the SARS outbreak was traced to a wetmarket here,
in southern China. Scientists found traces of the virus in farmed civet cats. Chinese officials
quickly shut down the markets and banned wildlife farming. But a few months after the
outbreak, the Chinese government declared 54 species of wildlife animals, including civet
cats, legal to farm again. By 2004, the wildlife-farming industry was worth an estimated
$100 billion yuan. And it exerted significant influence over the Chinese government. It's
because of this influence that the Chinese government has allowed these markets to grow
over the years. In 2016, for example, the government sanctioned the farming of some
endangered species like tigers, and pangolins. By 2018, the wildlife industry had grown to
148 billion yuan and had developed clever marketing tactics to keep the markets around.

Yet, these products became popular with an influential portion of China’s population:
It’s this minority that the Chinese government chose to favor over the safety of the rest of
its population. Soon after the coronavirus outbreak, the Chinese government shut down
thousands of wet-markets and temporarily banned wildlife trade again. Organizations
around the world have been urging China to make the ban permanent. Chinese social
media, in particular, has been flooded with petitions to ban it for good this time. In
response, China is reportedly amending the Wildlife Protection Law that encouraged
wildlife farming decades ago. But unless these actions lead to a permanent ban on wildlife
farming, outbreaks like this one are bound to happen again.

AFRICA: COVID19 AND ITS IMPACT ON WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, global media is reporting on a “silver lining” of the
crisis: that nature is getting a break as people are forced to stay home. Penguins on the
streets of Cape Town, a kangaroo roaming around Adelaide and a crab-eating fox exploring
Bogotá suburbs are just a few examples. These stories are coupled with reports of clean air
over Delhi, Seoul and even Los Angeles.
However, these reports give the misleading impression that Mother Earth stands to benefit
from the restrictions on
movement imposed on people around the world, especially in cities
Unfortunately, outside urban areas, the situation is very different. In rural areas, there is
less wealth and the main savings account for people is nature, with hunting, fishing and
logging necessary to provide food and support livelihoods. People who moved to cities and
have now lost their employment and income opportunities due to the quarantines are
returning to their rural homes, further increasing the pressure on natural resources while
also increasing the risk of COVID-19 transmission to rural areas.
At the same time, opportunistic actors and criminal groups involved in landgrabbing,
deforestation, illegal mining and wildlife poaching are taking advantage of the fact that
governments are focused on COVID-19 instead of on conservation. There are reports of
increased deforestation in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Areas dependent on tourism to
fund conservation – such as community conservancies in Kenya and iconic natural World
Heritage Sites like the Galápagos,
Ecuador and the Tubbataha Reef in the Philippines – are facing reduced resources as
tourism has come to a halt. Meanwhile, illegal mining for gold and precious stones in Latin
America and Africa is on the rise, as prices spike and protected areas are left unguarded
Source: World Economic Forum
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020 /05/c
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjDBXUAS 4gc

TURKEY: COVID19 AND MIGRATION CRISIS

The end of the Cold War, the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the Syrian refugee crisis changed
the public discourse on migration to focus on international security rather than the
economic, cultural, social or humanitarian context.
Now, the COVID-19 pandemic and the fear of “the other” shifts migration rhetoric further,
by expanding the focus to include the risk to individual health security, as well.
Migrant key workers continue to perform crucial tasks on the front lines of the global
pandemic response. But the shutting down of economies, closure of borders and fear of the
invisible enemy is leading to the hardening of migration policies around the world – and
the rise of a new “health securitization” migration rhetoric.
This new migration rhetoric will have longer-term implications for socioeconomic
inclusion and social cohesion in societies receiving immigrants. Stigmatization,
misinformation and discrimination are already leading to a rise in xenophobia. Economies
highly dependent on remittance cash-flows from their immigrant diaspora face the threat
of job losses as well as deportation measures resulting from the enforcement of draconian
immigrant policies. While nationals are supposed to stay at home and limit contact with
the outside world, the reality for migrants is different. Some states have created a
paradoxical “quasiquarantine” – one in which migrants can and are supposed to work to
support the survival of the economy even while contact with the outside world and
interaction with locals are forbidden, and while curfew measures aimed at migrants
restrict their access to basic care and services. This leads to a regime of segregation.
Source: World Economic Forum: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020 /05/c
TRANSCRIPT OF THE VIDEO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGJ_Nr907 P0
For years turkey has been host to more refugees and forced migrants than any other country
in the world. In late February, the Turkish government decided that it would no longer be
able to keep those people from trying to go on to Europe. The Greek government really
hardened the border. They made new border security patrol roads, they constructed fences
and you can see a lot of that from the satellite imagery around that time and so what you see
is not only people coming to the Turkish side of the border but you see a hardening of the
Greek side of the border. By the time we get to March 14th, you see thousands of people in
the forest. You see them taking over farmland, you see temporary structures starting to be
erected. By March 22nd, you see a really bigger footprint of people. You see more and more
structures, you see more buses, you see really well trodden border security roads. This is
just punting the issue down the road. The Turkish government has said that they will
continue to keep their side of the border open and the Greek side has saidthat they will
similarly keep it pretty hard close to these refugees and other forced migrants trying to make
their way to Europe

EUROPE: COVID19 AND SEXUAL EXPLOITATION

Online child sex abuse has soared in Europe during coronavirus lockdowns, campaigners
and lawyers warned, calling for greater international cooperation and better reporting
tools to halt the scourge.
With schools in many European countries still shut to contain the pandemic, children are
spending more time online, making them more vulnerable to abusers, who are also at
home most of the day, human rights experts say.
"Parents are working from home and children are not at school, so they're spending longer
online," said Almudena Olaguibel of UNICEF Spain, the U.N.'s children's agency. "Norms
and limits on the use of the internet are being loosened."
"Also, the abusers are at home more, bored, using the internet for longer," the policy
specialist told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
National law enforcement authorities in 27 European Union states have reported a rise in
pedophile activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Europol, the block's law
enforcement agency.
These countries have seen increased access to illegal websites and shut more online
platforms where child sex material is being exchanged, Europol said.
Source: Jakarta Post:
https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2 020/06/18/calls-for-cooperation-asonline-
child-sex-abuse-soars-ineurope.html)
TRANSCRIPT OF THE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIA 1hPBKhKY
Amid the lockdown, exploitation and human trafficking is still taking place. It has taken on
a different form also indoors, hidden from the street. It has also put many girls who rely on
prostitution for their livelihood out of food and money. Sister Gabriella Bottani, coordinator
for Talitha koum discusses how religious sisters in 22 regions help the vulnerable amid the
pandemic.

“Their dignity also is the product of sexual exploitation that is sold throughout the Internet
and not physically in prostitution for example the difference is the tool that is used.
Because of the lockdown, it also reduces the services, let me say the sexual services they
offer so they are really suffering from hunger. For many selling their body is the only way
they survive.”

The sisters that make up Talitha koum in 76 countries thus bring food to them give,
psychological help and offer career training so women can provide for themselves and
leave these dangerous situations. The problem is many of the sisters safe shelters are
unable to take in new girls due to social distancing. As a result psychological assistance has
gone virtual through social media or phone calls. Now vulnerable victims are trapped
inside instead of being trafficked on the streets.

“We do not have anymore, we do not have it prostitution anymore in an official way so it is
more and more in a hidden context so we do not have it anymore on the streets but in
apartments, in flats. The problem is how we can reach them now and it makes it more and
more difficult.”

Sister Gabriella says instead of being passed around on the streets girls are exploited and
then distributed online during the lockdown in the form of pornography.

“In these times where in this time of particular lockdown where maybe they are afraid to
go out and buy these kinds of services so there is the risk. The increase of the demand for
online sexual services is real we buy it virtually but it is not fiction, it is reality so the real
exploitation there is going on a real exploitation. What I am accessing in the computer is
not like what you see in movies.

Talitha Kum continues to offer career training during this time with many girls making face
masks to distribute. However another issue is how these girls can make a living after the
pandemic when jobs are scarce and prostitution seems like the easy way out. Problems like
these lead the sisters to discern how to do their jobs more effectively.
“What is the most important thing: the process of healing, the process of staying together
with survivors, trying to build, trying to renew their life, build again life, a rebirth. It's
something that is helping us also in this different time to listen deeply to what life is asking
us to do.”

The sisters are also adapting to this changing time as doors are closed and people are
Indoors. They are figuring out how they can better serve the most vulnerable in society
who seem to be highlighted even more with the current crisis.

PHILIPPINES: COVID19 AND UNEMPLOYMENT

The COVID-19 pandemic rendered more
Filipinos jobless, with the Philippine Statistics Authority reporting 7.3 million
unemployed adults in April.
The PSA reported Friday a 17.7 percent unemployment rate, an all-time high. The
figure rose from 5.3 percent in January and 5.1 percent a year ago, which meant an
additional 5 million people without work.
"This is a record high in the unemployment rate reflecting the effects of the economic
shutdown to the Philippine labor market due to COVID19," National Statistician Claire
Dennis Mapa said. Two-thirds of the unemployed are males while the rest are
females.
Two-thirds of laborers in the country depend on salaries and wages, while 28.7
percent are considered self-employed, rendering professional services or operating
their own businesses.
PSA data also showed that 13 million Filipinos had jobs but were not able to report to
work, representing 38.4 percent. Nearly all of them attributed this disruption to
COVID-19 regulations.
Source: CNN Philippines:
https://www.cnnphilippines.com/busine ss/2020/6/5/unemployment-April-
2020COVID-

TRANSCRIPT OF THE VIDEO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdszt540WI
Julius Evangelista used to earn around $300 a month as a jeepney driver. That was
barely enough to feed his family but he says somehow they were able to get by. But
life became much worse two months ago when the lockdown was imposed by the
government to stop the spread of coronavirus. He is unable to work and pay for the
house rent in Manila so they live like this now in a jeepney begging in the street just to
feed his family.
“This is really tragic! I can see how my children suffer and we don't know when our
next meal will come.”

Christian Garcia also says the pandemic brought more suffering for his family. He used
to be a professional photographer but when the lockdown of the entire region of
Luzon happened, work stopped coming in too. He found a job as a delivery driver
earning less than half of what he used to.

“Imagine I had years and years of professional experience. I swallowed my pride and
roll up my sleeves just so I can earn. Times are hard but we simply don't have a choice
anymore. It is a matter of survival now.”

The Philippine government implemented one of the world's strictest and longest
Quarantines: a two-month locked down for more than 15 million Filipinos. The region
of Luzon accounts for at least 75 percent of the entire economy. Quarantine
restrictions were recently eased in an attempt to restore some normalcy and limit the
economic damage after two decades of uninterrupted growth.

But at least two and a half million Filipinos have already lost their jobs since the
lockdown began and the government says millions more are expected to be
unemployed this year. The impact of this health crisis is causing particular suffering to
those who had very little to begin with. The government is giving cash aid to millions
of impoverished families but leaders admit resources are already stretched and much
of the government so-called calamity fund has been used up. Those like Julius who
have always lived on the fringes say they feel left out if the virus doesn't kill them they
say hunger most likely will.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: COVID19

AND RACIAL DISPARITIES

Health differences between racial and ethnic groups result from inequities in living,
working, health, and social conditions that have persisted across generations. In
public health emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, these conditions can also
isolate people from the resources they need to prepare for and respond to outbreaks.

Long-standing systemic health and social inequities have put some members of racial
and ethnic minority groups at increased risk of getting COVID-19 or experiencing
severe illness, regardless of age. Among some racial and ethnic minority groups,
including non-Hispanic black persons, Hispanics and Latinos, and American
Indians/Alaska Natives, evidence points to higher rates of hospitalization or death
from COVID-19 than among non-Hispanic white persons. As of June 12, 2020, age-
adjusted hospitalization rates are highest among non-Hispanic American Indian or
Alaska Native and non-Hispanic black persons, followed by Hispanic or Latino
persons.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019ncov/need-extra-precautions/racialethnic-
minorities.html

TRANSCRIPT OF THE VIDEO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsJR8N27Y
4s
African-americans are dying in greater numbers from COVID 19 across the United
States. The country tops the charts with the highest number of coronavirus cases and
deaths. The death toll is at more than 22,000 people with more than half a million
total cases across the country.

But reports indicate that the death toll breaks down unevenly across racial lines.

“There's a real problem and it's showing up very strongly and our data on the African
American community and we're doing everything in our power to address this
challenge. It's a tremendous challenge, it's terrible and provide support to African
American citizens of this country who are going through a lot but it's been
disproportional they're getting hit very very hard.”

This seems to be a trend in many major US cities including New York, Detroit
Milwaukee and New Orleans. According to Voice of America in Louisiana, two-thirds
of coronavirus cases are among African Americans while they only make up 1/3 of
the population and New York City's 14th congressional district has been called the
epicenter of the epicenter where half of the district's population is Hispanic. The
Guardian states that the risks are that african-americans are twice as likely to lack
health insurance compared with their white counterparts and more likely to live in
medically underserved areas where primary care is sparse or expensive. This leads to
people at lower income levels to be more susceptible to illnesses making them targets
for the coronavirus.

The Center for advancing health says that new research into healthcare deserts find
that primary care physicians are especially hard to find in predominantly black or low
income Hispanic metropolitan neighborhoods. The Washington Post's did an analysis
of available data and census demographics. Here's a sample of what they found in
Milwaukie county home to Wisconsin's largest city african-americans account for
about 70% of the dead but just 26% of the population and the New York Times
reports similar numbers: in Illinois 43% of people who have died from the disease
and 28% of those who have tested positive are African Americans a group that makes
up just 15% of the state's population. African-americans who account for 1/3 of
positive tests in Michigan represent 40% of deaths in that state even though they
make up 14% of the population. US Surgeon General dr. Jerome Adams who was
himself an African American told CBS this morning that the number of cases are
skewed.

“My office long before COVID 19 has been talking about health equity. When you look
at being black in America, number one, people unfortunately are more likely to be of
low socioeconomic status which makes it harder to social distance. Number two, we
know that blacks are more likely to have diabetes, heart disease, lung disease and I've
shared myself personally that I have high blood pressure that I have heart disease and
so I represent that legacy of growing up poor and black in America and I and many
black Americans are at higher risk for COVID.

And in Washington DC political reports Mayor Muriel Bowser is saying that the
coroner virus pandemic is casting a spotlight on health disparities among African
Americans that draw their roots in slavery racism and Jim Crow rules and laws.

In some southern states with larger african-american communities statewide such as

Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and South Carolina are also seeing similar trends so is
the data emerging from coronavirus cases an indicator of an already unequal health
system across U.S.