WEBVTT - New Epicenter for Coronavirus Is South America

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<v Speaker 1>It's Thursday. I'm Oscar Emiras from the Daily Dive podcast

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<v Speaker 1>in Los Angeles, and this is your daily coronavirus update.

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<v Speaker 1>South America has now become a new epicenter of the

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<v Speaker 1>coronavirus pandemic. Brazil now has the second most cases of

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<v Speaker 1>COVID nineteen, only behind the United States, and President Bolsonaro

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<v Speaker 1>is still refusing to impose strict measures to curb the spread.

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<v Speaker 1>Other countries like Peru and Chile are also facing increased numbers.

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<v Speaker 1>Alex Ward, reporter at Vox and co host of The

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<v Speaker 1>Worldly podcast, joins us for how South America's numbers are

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<v Speaker 1>going up. Thanks for joining us, Alex. Happy to be here.

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<v Speaker 1>I wanted to talk about where the current coronavirus epicenter

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<v Speaker 1>seems to be. Obviously, the United States has the most

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<v Speaker 1>cases in the world, but South America is quickly rising

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<v Speaker 1>with a number of cases they have. Brazil, as a

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<v Speaker 1>matter of fact, is number two in the world with

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<v Speaker 1>the largest number of confirmed cases currently. And there's what

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<v Speaker 1>happened in China, what happened in America, Pica. Everybody suspects

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<v Speaker 1>that it's actually worse than it is because lack of testing,

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<v Speaker 1>the health care systems are being overloaded. So Alex tell

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<v Speaker 1>us a little bit about how South America has become

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<v Speaker 1>this new coronavirus epicenter. While the story somewhat begins and

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<v Speaker 1>ends with Brazil, their president, Jeribolsnaro, has refused to take

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<v Speaker 1>on the crisis, calling it in a little flu himself,

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<v Speaker 1>going outside and hanging out with supporters who are protesting

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<v Speaker 1>lockdowns and promoting hydroxy chloroquine is some sort of cure

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<v Speaker 1>for the disease, although there's no evidence to support that.

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<v Speaker 1>In fact, there's a lot to say that it could

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<v Speaker 1>be dangerous. So while some regional leaders, governors, etcetera. Are

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<v Speaker 1>trying to fight the disease, that's just not happening, in

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<v Speaker 1>part because the president is unwilling to put the nation's

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<v Speaker 1>resources behind solving it. So most of South America's cases

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<v Speaker 1>are in Brazil, which is part of the reason, if

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<v Speaker 1>not the reason, why South America has just exploded and

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<v Speaker 1>having the who even say it is now one of

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<v Speaker 1>the world's epicenters. That said, there are other cases happening elsewhere.

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<v Speaker 1>But when we're really talking about South America's growth as

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<v Speaker 1>a coronavirus hotspot, it really is because of Brazil, Peru,

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<v Speaker 1>and Chile are other big countries in South America that

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<v Speaker 1>are starting to see a lot of cases. But let's

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<v Speaker 1>focus on Brazil a little bit more. First, have they

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<v Speaker 1>implemented any type of social distancing measures nationwide or is

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<v Speaker 1>that a lot of this stuff just being done on

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<v Speaker 1>the state and local level. It's really mostly done at

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<v Speaker 1>the state and local level. I mean, Bolsonaro himself is

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<v Speaker 1>not really willing to do a national program. Let's say,

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<v Speaker 1>part of the political crisis that he has started in

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<v Speaker 1>Brazil is that governors and mayors want to impose lockdowns,

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<v Speaker 1>and they are imposing lockdowns in some of the biggest

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<v Speaker 1>places in the country were De Genniro, Paolo. But Bilsonar

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't want to do that. So this is leading him

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<v Speaker 1>to fight with his own political leaders, some of which

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<v Speaker 1>are in his own party. And for some and these

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<v Speaker 1>are experts saying this, there's some experts claiming that bolson

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<v Speaker 1>is doing this in part to claim more political power

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<v Speaker 1>for himself, that he's trying to use the coronavirus to

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<v Speaker 1>gain more influence in the executive to minimize the power

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<v Speaker 1>of other leaders. And that seems to be backfiring because

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<v Speaker 1>hundreds of thousands are getting infected, tens of thousands of dying,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's just no end in sight for that crisis.

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<v Speaker 1>As this virus has moved throughout the world, we've had

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<v Speaker 1>different epicenters at different times. Obviously Italy was one of

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<v Speaker 1>the hardest hit, and you would just think that some

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<v Speaker 1>of these other countries would have taken some clues from

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<v Speaker 1>how they operated. Obviously the United States tried to do that.

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<v Speaker 1>Testing was one of our big failures early on, So

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<v Speaker 1>you know, you have to kind of learn as you go,

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<v Speaker 1>and some of these countries just haven't been able to

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<v Speaker 1>do that. I know, there's different cases all over the place.

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<v Speaker 1>In particular, some of these South American countries are very poor,

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<v Speaker 1>and they're very food poor. There's not enough to go around,

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<v Speaker 1>so Brazil, Peru, Chila, a lot of people are having

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<v Speaker 1>to break their quarantines or get out into the public markets,

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<v Speaker 1>crowded public markets because they need to buy food. I

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<v Speaker 1>think it's undoubtedly true that lockdowns and testing and tracing,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, these are the things that are prescribed and

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<v Speaker 1>are the best practices you have. But the more we're

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<v Speaker 1>looking at cases in South America and even parts of Africa,

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<v Speaker 1>what we're finding is that lockdowns are kind of a

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<v Speaker 1>rich nations game. It's really hard for countries that have

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<v Speaker 1>a high levels of poverty, high levels of people in

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<v Speaker 1>the informal sector. These are folks that really aren't on

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<v Speaker 1>tax roles. They are musicians, are artists, or street chets,

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<v Speaker 1>whoever may be. These kinds of folks aren't able to

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<v Speaker 1>purchase food and store it for long periods of time,

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<v Speaker 1>and they need to go outside for work, They need

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<v Speaker 1>to go outside to get food to consume day of

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<v Speaker 1>And you are seeing example and after example in places

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<v Speaker 1>like Peru and Chile wherever it could be. I mean

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<v Speaker 1>heartbreaking testimony from people where they're saying, I basically have

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<v Speaker 1>to choose between social distancing or getting food from my family.

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<v Speaker 1>And some have even said explicitly, like by go outside,

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<v Speaker 1>getting the coronavirus is a possibility, but if I don't

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<v Speaker 1>go outside and get food, starving as a certainty. And

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<v Speaker 1>so this is the kind of choice now that people

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<v Speaker 1>have to make in areas like South America, and it's

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<v Speaker 1>part of the reason why social distancing and lockdowns and

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<v Speaker 1>all these other kinds of measures which have worked with

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<v Speaker 1>varying degrees of success, elsewhere are just not really working

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<v Speaker 1>in that part of the world. Interesting statistic from the

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<v Speaker 1>seventeen census out of Peru. Peruving homes don't own a

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<v Speaker 1>freezer basically, so you mentioned people having to go out

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<v Speaker 1>and have to purchase day of food. They have to

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<v Speaker 1>get their food every day at these local markets, and yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>they're braving the large crowds to do so. In that case,

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<v Speaker 1>what do we know about the health care systems in

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<v Speaker 1>the South American countries, because obviously that is one of

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<v Speaker 1>the big things, getting overloaded, too many patients, not enough

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<v Speaker 1>support to go around there. What do we know about

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<v Speaker 1>their health care systems? It differs depending on the country,

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<v Speaker 1>but by and large it's just not great. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>there aren't that many icing you beds, testing and tracing

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<v Speaker 1>capabilities are minimal, The amount of doctors available for patients

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<v Speaker 1>are low, and you know, there are tons of people

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<v Speaker 1>as they were. Poverty is quite widespread in South America.

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<v Speaker 1>It's hard for people to pay for services, and so

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<v Speaker 1>there's great inequality in terms of hospitals or medical centers

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<v Speaker 1>and impoverished areas as they are. While there are some

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<v Speaker 1>better ones and more urban centers and in richer areas,

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<v Speaker 1>and so this is part of the other problem is

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<v Speaker 1>that as more people get sick, the ability for people

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<v Speaker 1>to go get care is just gonna be really hard,

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<v Speaker 1>or even good care is going to be hard. And

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<v Speaker 1>the other issue here is that South America is now

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<v Speaker 1>entering it's winter. Right here in the United States, we

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<v Speaker 1>are heading into summer, but the southern hemisphere is heading

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<v Speaker 1>into winter, and that gets to flu season. And this

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<v Speaker 1>adds to the bunch of problems that the region already

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<v Speaker 1>has with certain disease like den Gach, conglula, etcetera. Add

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<v Speaker 1>flu and then of course the coronavirus. It's only going

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<v Speaker 1>to overwhelm already taxed and underfunded and under resourced medical

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<v Speaker 1>centers down the line. It just is not looking like

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<v Speaker 1>a good situation, to the point I've experts telling me

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<v Speaker 1>they're expecting a major collapse of South America's healthcare systems

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<v Speaker 1>over the next two months. I mean, obviously we wish

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<v Speaker 1>them the best and they can get a handle on it,

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<v Speaker 1>but as you mentioned, some of the experts are saying

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<v Speaker 1>it looks pretty bad, and I'm assuming they're gonna start

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<v Speaker 1>looking for help from other countries as well, so we'll

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<v Speaker 1>have to see how it pans out there is the

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<v Speaker 1>virus just continues to make its way throughout the world.

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<v Speaker 1>Alex Ward, reporter at Vox and co host of The

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<v Speaker 1>Worldly podcast, thank you very much for joining us. Glad

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<v Speaker 1>to be here. I'm Oscar Ramirez and this has been

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<v Speaker 1>your daily coronavirus update. Don't forget that. For today's big

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<v Speaker 1>news stories, you can check me out on the Daily

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<v Speaker 1>Dive podcast every Monday through Friday. So follow us and

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<v Speaker 1>I Heart Radio or wherever you get your podcast.