Before the arrival of COVID-19, which led to our mandatory, preventive social isolation as a means to mitigate its outbreak, it was common to see elderly couples out on the streets of Buenos Aires, going about their daily lives at a leisurely pace. And whenever I saw them, I would wonder: Who is taking care of whom? The answer is particularly important today since we all know that older adults are the social group that is most at risk.

We all stand together during these difficult times. Some live in countries in the middle of the pandemic, others live in countries where the pandemic may be in an earlier stage.  Hopefully, preparedness and response systems are well underway.

And one day, suddenly, everything stopped. And, as Gabriel García Marquez would say in his novel, perhaps “It was inevitable”.

Rosita looks through the window of her house in Guayaquil and remembers her school, her teacher, and her classmates. She does not understand why she can no longer go out to play with her friends in the neighborhood or visit her grandmother, nor why her father has not come to visit her in almost a month.

A large body of research has shown the long-term effects of early life adversity. A nurturing and stimulating environment is essential for healthy child development and can reduce the harmful effects of risk factors related to poverty and lack of parental resources. Parental programs to promote nurturing environments such as the home-based Reach Up, program originally developed in Jamaica, have been successfully implemented in a range of low- and middle-income countries.

COVID-19 disproportionately affects indigenous peoples. This presents a major health challenge requiring immediate responses that account for indigenous peoples’ diverse cultural and linguistic contexts.

Looking for stuff to do during the quarantine, I played the Decameron audiobook, remembering that it was about the Black Death. I thought I could find something on how people with disabilities were dealt with during the XIV century. I found it fascinating. It´s as if not a day had gone by since that March in 1348. Like today, the leading actor in the Western World was Italy, and it was also rumored that the virus was some kind of curse that came from “the East”:

The Jamaican Home Visiting intervention strengthens parents’ abilities to use responsive interactions and play to help their children develop well. The intervention has substantial benefits to children’s development and is the first early childhood stimulation program in low and middle-income countries to show long term benefits of play for adult education, income, and well-being.

Have you wondered why?

As the coronavirus crisis hits Latin America and the Caribbean, in the midst of International Women’s Month, have you wondered what consequences this pandemic can have in terms of gender in the region? Acknowledging to what extent this health crisis affects women and men differently, is essential to truly understand its effects on people, an implement policies and interventions that are effective and equitable.