Central America battling poverty, weak health systems during COVID-19 pandemic, say experts

Mexico City, Mexico | XINHUA | The COVID-19 pandemic has increased poverty, expanded the size of the informal economy, and threatened the weak health systems of some countries in Central America, experts have said.

According to the Inter-American Development Bank, 274,000 formal jobs could be lost in Guatemala, 130,000 in Honduras, and 70,000 in El Salvador due to COVID-19.

Salvadoran economist Julia Evelyn Martinez said that the loss of jobs in the region has led to an increase in informal employment in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, where the informal economy already measured around 70 percent before the pandemic.

Martinez said the region had already been facing a multidimensional crisis due to economic stagnation, deterioration of public finances and unemployment, while restrictions imposed by the government during the pandemic have only exacerbated the problem.

“The approval of containment measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 has added further deterioration to the welfare conditions of Central American families,” said Martinez.

Across the region, Central Americans have begun to turn to the informal economy to survive, running businesses out of their homes or even begging in the streets in order to make ends meet. According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, poverty will increase exponentially in the region this year due to the pandemic.

Nancy Sandoval, president of the Guatemalan Association of Infectious Diseases, said that the region lacks healthcare networks with the capacity to respond to projected future cases.

The gradual relaxation of restrictions aiming to jumpstart their economies means an increase in cases, which is why more medical personnel, beds, and tests are required, said Sandoval, giving Guatemala and Honduras as examples, where less than one doctor is available for every 1,000 inhabitants.

Central America reported over 237,000 COVID-19 cases on Friday, according to the Pan American Health Organization.

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