“Choose between dying of coronavirus or starving to death”

With nearly 1.5 million people infected and more than 71,000 deaths globally, the coronavirus pandemic has reached almost every country in the world. Healthcare systems are largely collapsed, material is scarce and a veritable speculative battle is being waged to obtain masks and other healthcare products, such as last week when the United States bought shipments of masks from other countries at the Chinese airstrips at a price three times what countries like France had originally paid.

The virus seems to have hit the developed countries hardest so far: China first and then Europe and the United States, the new epicentre of the pandemic. One of the great concerns of the World Health Organization is to know what will happen if COVID-19 spreads uncontrollably through poor countries and, in many cases, without powerful health systems, and not even drinking water, where soap is a luxury product.

Today, 7 April, is World Health Day. Although there is not much to celebrate, the Salesian missionaries remind us that countries like Southern Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Syria, India, Cambodia and Senegal are facing a much bigger problem, where the population will have to choose between dying of coronavirus or starvation.

The missionaries, scattered in more than 130 countries are taking care of the most vulnerable and, since a few days ago, are distributing food and hygiene kits to protect the population. They also work in refugee camps such as Kakuma (Kenya) or Palabek (Uganda), and in reception centres where thousands of children are alone and suffer extreme vulnerability.

In addition to distributing bags of food, the missionaries are carrying out a major campaign to raise awareness of how crucial it is to maintain social distance and to wash hands with soap.

The World Bank (WB) already warned a few days ago of the extreme vulnerability of these low- and middle-income countries, where despite being in the early stages of the pandemic, the impacts have already been felt. "Health systems are affected in Ethiopia and Yemen; more medical personnel are needed in Haiti and Mongolia; and millions of children cannot go to school in Pakistan", where distance learning is not contemplated.

In these countries, confinement is almost impossible, where houses are made of cardboard and there is no ventilation or drainage, or waste collection; and most people leave their homes every day in order to eat or get water from general taps.

For the next 15 months, the WB expects to provide up to $160 billion to help these countries protect poor and vulnerable populations. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for a multilateral response based on collective responsibility and global solidarity to help those most in need.

For the time being, this is what the Salesian Missions are doing: “Today more than ever solidarity between peoples is necessary. Because we are going to overcome it together”.