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Before the pandemic, there were 45 million poor and 28 million living under extreme poverty. After the pandemic, the UN forecasts the figures will rise to 230 million and 96 million respectively.
The COVID-19 economic impact could cost Latin America and the Caribbean a decade, said the UN on Thursday.
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“COVID-19 represents a massive health, social and economic shock with an immense human toll for the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. It is expected to result in the deepest recession in living memory,” UN report on COVID-19 impact on economy said.
Before the pandemic, there were 45 million poor and 28 million living under extreme poverty. After the pandemic, the UN forecasts the figures would rise to 230 million and 96 million respectively.
Besides, gender and ethnic inequality could harden under economic instability, as well as education and universal access for those at a disadvantage.
COLOMBIA; Cali. June 2020. - A couple chooses masks for sale at a street vendor stall in the downtown. The informal sale of face masks has increased as part of the informal economy and due to measures against the spread of the new coronavirus, COVID-19. - Photo: @ESCOBARMORA3 pic.twitter.com/aiXUFUunga
— CHRISTIAN ESCOBARMORA (@ESCOBARMORA3) June 7, 2020
“The response to the COVID-19 pandemic should go beyond short-term emergency measures to embrace an entirely new set of health, economic, social, and industrial policies,” the information states.
UN urges the region’s governments to implement new production models as well as inclusion policies in the post-pandemic period.
Latin America is the pandemic epicenter, with about nine million cases and over 350,000 deaths due to the virus.
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