Key measures to face the impacts of COVID-19 on people with disabilities

The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are not the same for everyone and affect people in different ways. From data collected in China, Korea and Italy, it was observed that the fatality rate of the virus is considerably higher among those over 60 years of age. And it seems that young people are mostly asymptomatic. The specific context in which they live and the risks faced by some populations require a differential approach. This note seeks to highlight the most prominent challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic for people with disabilities in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and presents key measures to try to mitigate and respond to them. This document compiles examples of measures implemented in various countries.

Reasons to take into account:

• Increased risk of complications.

• The economic effects of the pandemic.

• Specific risks for people with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities.

• Communication availability in an accessible format.

• Challenges of containment measures.

• Risk of violence.

The responses from some countries in the region and other parts of the world to the COVID-19 emergency inform us about what additional efforts can be made to protect the life quality of people with disabilities during this crisis.

Read the full essay at the following link:

https://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument.aspx?docnum=EZSHARE-227786744-4