Each week, we’re taking a look at how COVID-19 is impacting life around the world. Here’s the roundup for this week:
Philippines
In Manila, just one doctor is responsible for a staggering 45,000 inmates across 47 prisons. That’s according to research by Tobias Brandner, a prison chaplain and professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. And Brandner and other experts argue the situation in the Philippines is just one example illustrating how COVID-19 is could create a massive crisis acrossAsia’s cramped, underfunded prisons. (South China Morning Post)
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation has the highest per-capita COVID-19 infection rate after New York and New Jersey, but with a fraction of the resources. The Native American tribe whose territory encompasses 27,000 sq miles of southwestern Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, has 2,757 confirmed cases and 88 confirmed deaths. The actual number of fatalities is likely to be much higher. The Navajo Nation was among the first places to lockdown in the US, making the considerable death toll all the more frustrating. (The Guardian)
Vanuatu
Small island nations in the South Pacific, like Vanuatu, face a difficult dilemma: reopen to tourists—the lifeblood of their economy—or remain locked down and spared the wrath of COVID-19. After closing their borders early on in the pandemic, about a dozen Pacific island nations remain virus free. But the economic toll has been huge—in Vanuatu 70 percent of tourism jobs have disappeared. The tradeoff in the South Pacific could be starker than anywhere else on Earth. (Bangkok Post)
Switzerland
Around 660,000 Swiss people—roughly 8 percent of the population—live in poverty. And as thousands of people in Geneva lined up for free food, given out by a charity helping out during the coronavirus pandemic, it brought into sharp focus the usually invisible poor in one of the world’s most expensive cities. (The Straits Times)
