Hurricanes in the Caribbean: new threat in the pandemic, UNICEF warns
- Written by Redacción ¡ahora!
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The damage caused during the hurricane season in Central America and the Caribbean may make children and their families more vulnerable in the midst of the pandemic, and this is a current concern at the UN.
According to a report by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), more than 70 million children in that geographic area are directly or indirectly affected by the health crisis following Covid-19, and the more active phase of the hurricane season threatens to aggravate the situation.
Displacement, damage to infrastructure and disruption of services due to the storms, particularly in coastal areas, could make children and families more vulnerable to the disease and its impacts, the report notes.
Furthermore, it adds, the pandemic also affects the preparedness of countries in the region to respond to such disasters. UNICEF is very concerned that a powerful storm could seriously undermine ongoing efforts to stop the transmission of the new coronavirus in an area already hard hit by the disease.
Overcrowding in emergency shelters or sites of displacement would make it very difficult to ensure physical separation and proper hygiene measures, the UN agency said in its recent report. / PL
