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1 1 (August 14, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdbet0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Updated August 14,2020 Latin America and the Caribbean: Impact of COVID-19 The Coronavirus Disease2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is having widespread economic, social, and political effects on Latin America and the Caribbean, a region with strong congressional interest because of deep U.S. linkages. As of August 14,2020, the region had almost 5.9 million confirmed cases (28% of cases worldwide) and almost 231,000 deaths (almost 31% of deaths worldwide), with the virus continuing to spread at high levels in several countries. Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, and Chile have the highest numbers of deaths in the region, and Brazil and Mexico have highest death tolls worldwide after the United States. The rankings change in terms of per capita deaths- Peru has the highest recorded deaths per capitain the region, followed by Chile, Brazil, Mexico, and Panama (see Table 1). A June 2020 University of Washington nrdelfor COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean forecasts that deaths could reach 438,000 by October 1, 2020. Many observers have expressed specialconcern for Venezuela, where the health care systemwas collapsing prior to the pandemic. Experts have criticized the leaders of Brazil, Mexico, and Nicaragua for playing down the virus threat and not taking adequate actions to stemits spread. The Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Dr. Caris s a Etienne, maintained on May 19 that the virus is surgingacross ourregion and expres sed concern about the poor and other vulnerable groups at greatest risk. Dr. Etienne conveyed particular concern for cities, towns, and remote communities in the Amazon Basin, including indigenous conmunities, as well as women (who make up 70% of the health workforce), people of African descent, migrants in temporary settlements, and prisoners in crowdedjails. In June 2020, PAHO is sued guidance on measures to reduce COVJD-19 transmission among indigenous populations, Afro -descendants, and other ethnic groups, and in July, PAHO is sued an alert urging countries to intensify effort to prevent further spread of the virus among indigenous conmrunities in the Americas. Before the pandemic, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected 1.6% economic growth for the region in 2020 but forecast a recession for several countries. On June 24, 2020, the IMFrevised its regional forecast to a contractionof9.4%, with almost every country in recession. Economic recovery may be a protracted process in countries that rely heavily on global trade and investment, which the pandemic is significantly affecting. Oil-producing countries in the region, especially Venezuela and Ecuador-and, to a lesser extent, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico-are being negatively affected by the historic drop in the price ofoil that began in late February 2020. Caribbean nations that depend on tourisimface deep economic recessions, with projected annual GDP declines between 5%-10%. The decline in economic growth in 2020 is expected to exacerbate income inequality and poverty throughout the region. Latin America was already the mostunequalregion in the world in terms of income inequality, according to the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). ECLAC projects that in 2020, inequality will rise in all countries, with the worst results in the region's largest economies-Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina. According to a July 2020 U.N. report, poverty is expected to increase from30.3% of the region's population in 2019 to 37.2% in 2020, an increase of 45 million people (to 230 million people total). Table I. COVID-l 9 Deaths and Mortality Rates in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) (countries with more than 500 deaths, as of August 14, 2020) Regional Country Deaths Deaths per Rank 100,000 (deaths per 100,000) Brazil 105,463 50.35 3 Mexico 55,293 43.82 4 Peru 21,713 67.88 1 Colombia 14,145 28.49 8 Chile 10,299 54.99 2 Ecuador 6,010 35.18 6 Argentina 5,362 12.05 12 Bolivia 3,884 34.21 7 Guatemala 2,296 13.31 10 Panama 1,722 41.23 5 Honduras 1,542 16.08 9 Dom. Rep. 1,393 13.11 II El Salvador 584 9.10 13 Total LAC 230,911 - - United States 167,110 51.08 Source: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Coronavirus Resource Center, Mortality Analyses, August 14,2020,3:00 a.m. EDT, updated daily at https:/coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality. Another economic challenge for the region is that incoming remittances fromabro ad (the majority fromthe United A A '2 xa S 1,k yg

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