Is Latin America prepared to fight coronavirus?

Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro announced that the whole country, already suffering from years of economic and political turmoil, would be under quarantine from Tuesday after the number of cases there rose from 16 to 33 in one day.

“We're facing a serious pandemic,” he told the nation in a televised address. “If we don’t stop it in time, cut it off and control it, it could bring us down.”

He was not alone in declaring drastic restrictions. Peru had already declared a national emergency, closed its borders and told everybody to self-quarantine for 14 days while Chile said it would close its borders after cases more than doubled there to 155. 

Most of the region is introducing strict measures on movement and schools, shops and flights are shutting down. Yet coronavirus has only just arrived here - so have countries learned lessons from Europe? Or are they acting too soon?

‘It’s unpredictable’

“The sharing of information on coronavirus is a fundamental response to the international crisis but there are differences,” says Prof Deisy Ventura of São Paulo University’s Public Health School. 

Brazil, with a population of just over 200 million, is the country with the highest number of confirmed cases in the region, 234. It has not shut its borders but in cities like Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, schools and universities have been told to close and public events have been called off.

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