COVID-19 Pandemic in Peru - send medical supplies

As of July 15, 2020 Peru has registered over 340,000 positive COVID-19 cases and over 12,600 deaths. While Peru is hailed as the most responsive country in Latin America to the crisis due to its testing and lockdown, sadly Peru only trails Brazil in the number of casualties and fatalities. In spite of Peru’s increase in per capita GDP over the past 30 years, the fragility of that growth is being displayed among the 60% of the population that still works in the informal economy and who lack access to healthcare. The large number of Peruvian citizens who work in the informal economy makes it nearly impossible for them to comply with the lockdown, social distancing and secure PPE.

In order to eat and keep a roof over their head, they must venture out into the streets to earn a small amount of money. Most have lost their meager daily wages due to the lockdown. A growing number of Peruvians are sleeping in the streets waiting for a solution. Many of the clusters are near airports and squares in makeshift shelters they lack the basic hygiene to prevent the virus. Also, crowding is frequent in the campsites, so it is hard to comply with social isolation measures. Faced with this crisis, caravans of thousands of people are trekking on the highways carrying their little ones and all of their belongings trying to make it back to their remote towns of the Andes, Amazon and desert coast where they can find shelter and food. Sadly, plagued by extreme poverty and devastating natural disasters, these towns lack the resources to assist them when they arrive and the travelers are often the source of new outbreaks in these remote regions. The convergence of poverty and the pandemic has created a humanitarian and health crisis that the Peruvian healthcare system is ill equipped to address.

This reality raises the need to help build the healthcare infrastructure. To that end, VIDA has shipped 7 containers carrying as thousands of boxes of medical supplies including PPE and respiratory equipment and supplies to combat the virus. In addition VIDA has sent 200 plus ICU hospital beds, as well as stretchers, exam tables along with hundreds of walkers and crutches. A major cost in this project is the ocean freight from Oakland to Callao. GlobalGiving donors play an important role in making these shipments possible. We hope you can join us in our mission to bring aid to Peru’s most vulnerable communities.