Next Article in Journal
Prototype Development of an Expert System of Computerized Clinical Guidelines for COVID-19 Diagnosis and Management in Saudi Arabia
Next Article in Special Issue
A Flexible Lockdown by Integrating Public Health and Economic Reactivation to Response the Crisis of COVID-19: Responses to Comments by Alvaro J Idrovo on “An Examination on the Transmission of COVID-19 and the Effect of Response Strategies: A Comparative Analysis”
Previous Article in Journal
Moderators of Perceived Effort in Adolescent Rowers During a Graded Exercise Test
Previous Article in Special Issue
The Recommended and Excessive Preventive Behaviors during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Community-Based Online Survey in China
 
 
Reply published on 2 November 2020, see Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(21), 8068.
Font Type:
Arial Georgia Verdana
Font Size:
Aa Aa Aa
Line Spacing:
Column Width:
Background:
Comment

Long but Unreal Lockdowns in Latin America. Comment on Chen, Y.T.; Yen, Y.F.; Yu, S.H.; Su, E.C. An Examination on the Transmission of COVID-19 and the Effect of Response Strategies: A Comparative Analysis. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, E5687

Public Health Department, School of Medicine, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Carrera 32 #29-31, Bucaramanga 680002, Santander, Colombia
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(21), 8064; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph17218064
Submission received: 18 August 2020 / Revised: 21 October 2020 / Accepted: 28 October 2020 / Published: 2 November 2020
(This article belongs to the Collection Outbreak of a Novel Coronavirus: A Global Health Threat)

Abstract

:
Lockdowns have been important elements of epidemic control over time. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they have been implemented in many countries, at very different times, and accompanied by school or workplace closures, restrictions on mass gatherings, and public transport closure in different combinations. Recent evidence published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health suggests that SARS-CoV-19 transmission is diminished when strict lockdowns, contact tracing, and good public cooperation are implemented. However, in Latin America, not all lockdowns are real, and rapid increases in a few weeks in the number of infected, hospitalized, and deceased populations have been observed. In these cases, the effect of lockdowns is weakening of democracy.

Lockdowns have been important elements of epidemic control over time [1]. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they have been implemented in many countries, at very different times, and accompanied by school or workplace closures, restrictions on mass gatherings, and public transport closure in different combinations [2]. Recent evidence published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health suggests that SARS-CoV-19 transmission is diminished when strict lockdowns, contact tracing, and good public cooperation are implemented [3].
In Latin America, lockdowns were one of the most used strategies to have time to improve response capacity. Most countries decreed lockdowns in the second half of March, which in some countries has lasted for more than three months; in this way, they constitute the longest lockdowns together with India. According to the Government Response Stringency Index by the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker [4], countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Paraguay had a very strict response to COVID-19 pandemic, including lockdowns.
However, in general, the required preparation was not achieved. Improvements in public health surveillance, such as increasing the number of qualified field epidemiologists, increasing the capacity of laboratories to meet the growing demands for diagnostics, the implementation of technologies to facilitate surveillance, and community actions to communicate and educate various communities in health were not achieved; nor was it possible to increase the number of hospital beds and intensive care units in the dimension that was initially calculated [5]. Additionally, the difficult social conditions in Latin America, which include low education levels and high levels of poverty, unemployment, and informality, led to a double discourse—on the one hand, maintaining the lockdown as a measure to prevent transmission of the infection, but at the same time, making the lockdown more flexible to reactivate the weak economy.
The effects have been somewhat evident, with rapid increases in a few weeks in the number of infected, hospitalized, and deceased populations. For this contradiction, in Latin America, not all lockdowns are real, and many news in newspapers and magazines have evidenced the breach of lockdowns (for instance, in The Telegraph, “lockdowns on the continent have been some of the longest on the planet, but even as infections and deaths continue to rise, quarantine measures are now being relaxed across the continent as the lives versus livelihoods debate lingers on” [6]. Evidence is clear in showing that the successful use of lockdowns is not determined by its political declaration, but by its slow, flexible, and intelligent completion. In some Latin American countries, exaggerated prolongation has potential negative political repercussions on democracy, without showing great positive effects on the control of the pandemic. The beneficial effects of democracy on population health are well known [7].

Funding

This comment received no external funding.

Conflicts of Interest

Author declares no conflicts of interest.

References

  1. Gensini, G.F.; Yacoub, M.H.; Conti, A.A. The concept of quarantine in history: From plague to SARS. J. Infect. 2004, 49, 257–261. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  2. Islam, N.; Sharp, S.J.; Chowell, G.; Shabnam, S.; Kawachi, I.; Lacey, B.; Massaro, J.M.; D’Agostino, R.B.; White, M. Physical distancing interventions and incidence of coronavirus disease 2019: Natural experiment in 149 countries. Br. Med. J. 2020, 370, m2743. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  3. Chen, Y.T.; Yen, Y.F.; Yu, S.H.; Su, E.C. An examination on the transmission of COVID-19 and the effect of response strategies: A comparative analysis. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 5687. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  4. Hale, T.; Webster, S.; Petherick, A.; Phillips, T.; Kira, B. Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker; Blavatnik School of Government: Oxford, UK, 2020.
  5. Burki, T. COVID-19 in Latin America. Lancet Infect. Dis. 2020, 20, 547–548. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  6. ‘Disease of the Rich, Killer of the Poor’. How Covid-19 Brought Latin America to Its Knees. Available online: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/coronavirus-in-latin-america/ (accessed on 17 August 2020).
  7. Franco, A.; Álvarez-Dardet, C.; Ruiz, M.T. Effect of democracy on health: Ecological study. Br. Med. J. 2004, 329, 1421–1424. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Idrovo, A.J. Long but Unreal Lockdowns in Latin America. Comment on Chen, Y.T.; Yen, Y.F.; Yu, S.H.; Su, E.C. An Examination on the Transmission of COVID-19 and the Effect of Response Strategies: A Comparative Analysis. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, E5687. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 8064. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph17218064

AMA Style

Idrovo AJ. Long but Unreal Lockdowns in Latin America. Comment on Chen, Y.T.; Yen, Y.F.; Yu, S.H.; Su, E.C. An Examination on the Transmission of COVID-19 and the Effect of Response Strategies: A Comparative Analysis. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, E5687. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17(21):8064. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph17218064

Chicago/Turabian Style

Idrovo, Alvaro J. 2020. "Long but Unreal Lockdowns in Latin America. Comment on Chen, Y.T.; Yen, Y.F.; Yu, S.H.; Su, E.C. An Examination on the Transmission of COVID-19 and the Effect of Response Strategies: A Comparative Analysis. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, E5687" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 21: 8064. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph17218064

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Back to TopTop