COVID-19 pandemic in Venezuela
The COVID-19 pandemic in Venezuela was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first two cases in Venezuela were confirmed on 13 March 2020;[2][3] the first death was reported on 26 March.[4] However, the first record of a patient claiming to have symptoms of coronavirus disease dates back to 29 February 2020,[5] with government officials suspecting that the first person carrying the virus could have entered the country as early as 25 February.[6]
COVID-19 pandemic in Venezuela
13 March 2020
(4 years, 1 month, 1 week and 1 day)
376,311[1] (as of 5 October 2021)
4137[1] (as of 5 October 2021)
357,339[1] (as of 5 October 2021)
4,539[1] (as of 5 October 2021)
Capital District, all 23 states and 1 federal dependency
Venezuela is particularly vulnerable to the wider effects of the pandemic because of its ongoing socioeconomic and political crisis causing massive shortages of food staples and basic necessities, including medical supplies. The mass emigration of Venezuelan doctors has also caused chronic staff shortages in hospitals.[7]
To prevent the spread of the disease into Venezuela, the governments of Brazil and Colombia temporarily closed their borders with Venezuela.[8][9][10] The Colombian government had placed 1 October as a tentative date for reopening the border.[11]
In February 2021, Venezuela started vaccinations with the Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine and a vaccine produced by the Chinese company Sinopharm. It aimed to vaccinate 70 percent of the population by the end of 2021. An academic survey found that by the 1 September 2021, 10% of the Venezuelan population was fully vaccinated.[12] By the end of 2021, Venezuela had administered 30,049,714 doses of vaccine, about 52.7% of the country's population.[13][14]
Measures[edit]
Executive response[edit]
On 12 March, Nicolás Maduro declared a public health emergency in the country and suspended all inbound flights from Europe and Colombia for 30 days. He also announced that public gatherings were to be suspended and that the government would be evaluating whether or not to suspend flights from other regions in the coming weeks. According to Maduro, there had been 30 suspected cases in Venezuela, but these had all tested negative.[62]
After the first cases in the country were confirmed, Vice-president Delcy Rodríguez instructed all passengers of the 5 March and 8 March flights of Iberia 6673 to immediately enter into a mandatory preventive quarantine because two passengers tested positive.[63]
Rodríguez announced that all classes would be suspended at public and private schools from Monday 16 March until further notice,[64] while Néstor Reverol announced that the government would provide border control authorities with face masks, gloves and thermometers, without mentioning supplies for citizens and hospitals.[3] Reverol also announced that the operational control of all the police forces would be transferred to the Armed Forces in order to coordinate the action and contingency plan.[65]
On 14 March, authorities arrested two people for spreading false information about the virus, recording a video about fake cases in Los Teques.[66] SUDEBAN, the government's department related to banks and financial institutions, announced the suspension of banking activities, effective from 16 March.[67]
Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López announced that, effective from 16 March, the Armed Forces would control access to the six states and the Capital District declared by Nicolás Maduro to be in quarantine.[68]
On 16 March, Maduro reversed the country's official position against the International Monetary Fund (IMF), asking the institution for US$5 billion to combat the pandemic,[69] a first during Maduro's presidency; he has been a critic of the institution.[70][71] The IMF also has had conflicts with the Venezuelan government in the past, as Maduro's predecessor Hugo Chávez had pledged to cut ties with the fund in 2007, and the IMF suspended US$400 million in special drawing rights during the Venezuelan presidential crisis in 2019.[72] The IMF rejected the deal as it was not clear, among its member states, on who it recognizes as Venezuela's president, Nicolás Maduro or Juan Guaidó.[73] According to a report by Bloomberg, the Maduro administration also tried to request aid of $1 billion from the IMF after the first request was denied.[74]
On 19 March, Rodríguez announced that 4,000 diagnosis kits were delivered from China to test for coronavirus disease. The government said that the Chinese diagnosis kits would benefit 300,000 Venezuelans and thanked the Chinese government and President Xi Jinping for their generosity. In a separate measure, Venezuela's INEA maritime authority has prohibited crews aboard ships docking in the country's ports from disembarking.[75] The same day, Maduro announced that he had received a letter from the United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative Peter Grohmann, confirming that the organization "is ready to support the Venezuelan government in its fight against COVID-19." Maduro stressed that the UN has taken concrete actions, particularly in the areas of health and water, sanitation and hygiene, and "will support the Ministry of Health in the care and containment of the coronavirus." Likewise, they will offer support in the disclosure of reliable and updated information. China provided a further one million rapid antigen test kits in March 2020.[31]
On 20 March, Maduro said that Russia was considering "a significant donation of special humanitarian aid" to the country, such as medical equipment and kits for the diagnosis of COVID-19, which were expected to arrive by the following week.[76] On 23 March, Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza and Russian ambassador Sergei Melik-Bagdasarov announced that 10,000 diagnosis kits had been delivered from Russia, with more to be supplied in future shipments.[77] In a tweet, Maduro thanked the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin for their generosity and for standing in solidarity with the Venezuelan people.[78]
Maduro announced several economic measures on 23 March to deal with unemployment, the assumption of wage payment by the state, the suspension of rent and credit interests payments, the assignment of new bonds, the flexibility of new loans and credit, the prohibition of the cutting of telecommunication services and the guarantee of CLAP (Local Committees for Supply and Production) supplies.[79]
Reactions[edit]
Government reactions[edit]
Maduro asked people to not politicize the pandemic,[101] while also expressing concern as to how the country could control the pandemic with the United States-imposed sanctions.[2] Maduro called on US President Donald Trump to lift the sanctions so the country could acquire necessary medical supplies.[102]
Juan Guaidó said that since the start of the pandemic, human rights violations by Maduro's administration had increased, citing the murders in the 23 de Enero parish, the arrest of Darvinson Rojas, and human rights abuses against political prisoners, who are held in prisons with a high infection risk. Guaidó announced the creation of a Human Rights Observatory as a response.[91]
Other reactions[edit]
The Venezuelan Medical Federation expressed condemnation at how a medic in Zulia was forced to leave for Colombia after denouncing the inability of Venezuela to cope if the disease arrived;[103] it also asked for the release of the political prisoners in the country, who are vulnerable to the virus, specifically Roberto Marrero, Juan Requesens, and other lawmakers.[104]
In the Anzoátegui state, nurses denounced the lack of face masks, gloves and disposable gowns.[105]
Transparencia Venezuela asked for transparency and access to public information regarding the handling of the emergency.[106]
Media outlets, such as El Nacional, denounced the price increase of face masks.[107][108][109] Outlets have also reported on the violation of the quarantine for reasons such as buying food, medicines, and both cleaning and hygiene products, as well as the public services crisis, including the lack of drinking water, electric power, cooking gas, telephone signal and waste collection.[110]
Economic impact[edit]
As a result of the pandemic's economic impact, some businesses have sought to supplement lost business with deliveries, though exact figures remain obscure and the services are prohibitively costly for average Venezuelans. Some have started to make deliveries to support their families using bicycles instead of motorcycles due to gasoline shortages.[131]