Hong Kong Migration Continues Amid Pandemic, Politics

Bangkok — 

Thousands of weary residents are leaving Hong Kong every day as the city continues to battle its worst wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But an exodus of Hong Kong residents has been taking place for a couple of years, data suggests.

Experts say residents are leaving because of the city’s recent political unrest and ongoing restrictions due to the pandemic.

Recent data

According to immigration data, over 94,000 Hong Kong residents have departed the city via Hong Kong International Airport in 2022 alone, with 26,000 residents arriving. It is not clear whether the departures are permanent or temporary.

Hong Kong has required lengthy quarantines for residents and professionals entering the city making it an unattractive prospect for residents to travel overseas.

Vera Yuen, a business lecturer at the Hong Kong University (HKU), said the length of the departures would depend on two factors.

“Regarding this wave of exodus, there are two main reasons, the first related to the political developments in Hong Kong, and the second related to the tightening of travel restrictions and social distancing measures in response to COVID-19. The first is likely to be a permanent change, and the second is likely to be temporary.”

“If the current travel restrictions and quarantine measures remain for a sustained period, these temporary exoduses may become permanent,” she said.

COVID-19

Hong Kong is facing its worst coronavirus infection rate to date. With the rapid spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant, the city has recorded more cases in 2022 than in the previous two years combined.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam has ordered compulsory testing for all 7.4 million residents in March, while rumors of lockdowns have unsettled the population with residents scrambling for food and resources, leaving some supermarket shelves empty.

Julius, a former landscape project manager from Hong Kong, told VOA he is considering leaving the city.

“We used to have a large amount of civil societies, NGOs, or even elected legislative and district councillors to provide neighborhood aid. But after the introduction of [the] national security law, disqualification of councillors and dissolution [of] the civil society, this is one of the reasons that Hong Kong people are now hoarding food and daily supplies.”

“It’s hard for us to look for jobs. There’s no similar positions available and due to the epidemic, other industries are streamlining their manpower as well,” he added.

FILE – Residents line up to get tested for the coronavirus at a temporary testing center despite the rain in Hong Kong, Feb. 22, 2022.

Following the anti-government protests in 2019, Beijing enacted a national security law in Hong Kong. It strictly prohibits acts deemed as secession, subversion, foreign collusion and terrorism, carrying a maximum of life in prison. Street protests have stopped, while civil societies and independent media outlets have closed. At least 150 dissidents have been arrested, including dozens of democratic lawmakers.

Discontent with living in Hong Kong under the new conditions was shown in Hong Kong’s legislative council elections in December, with only 30.2% of the population casting votes.

Population decline 2020

According to data released by the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong recorded a population decline of 1.2% in 2020, approximately 89,200 people, the same year the security law took effect.

A Hong Kong government representative denied the population decline was due to the law.

But Yuen said the recent population decline is no surprise to the pro-democracy opposition, many of whom are in jail and are facing charges under the security law, following their roles in the protests two-and-half years ago.

“[It is] not surprising to the opposition. The surprise is that the change came so quickly.”

Yuen said the trend of people leaving Hong Kong would continue amid recent political trauma in the city. She referred to the Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing in 1989, when China’s armed forces killed an unknown number of pro-democracy demonstrators following large-scale demonstrations.

The ‘Pillar of Shame’ statue, a memorial to those killed in the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, is removed from the University of Hong Kong, Dec. 23, 2021.

“Estimates suggested that after Tiananmen, around half-a-million Hong Kongers emigrated in the ensuing years.”

“It will [continue]. There is a lot to prepare for migration. Early adopters prompt late adopters to think of leaving. What Hong Kong society will become and how the government will govern will further affect the intention to leave or to stay.”

BNO, Cheng

Hong Kong was a British colony until 1997 when the city was returned to China.

Following the implementation of the security law in 2020, Britain offered a lifeboat plan to millions of Hong Kong residents.

British National Overseas (BNO) passport holders from Hong Kong now can work and study in Britain for five years and can apply for citizenship afterward. A recent amendment by British lawmakers has extended the plan to Hong Kong residents 18 to 25 years old.

According to data from the British government as of December, 103,900 BNO applications had been received.

“The U.K. has been the most favored destination for Hong Kong people who plan to leave,” Joseph Cheng, a political analyst formerly of Hong Kong, told VOA.

“The deteriorating pandemic situation in Hong Kong has become a further push factor as small businesses fail and job losses increase.”

“Given the expectation that Beijing’s Hong Kong policy will be maintained, the momentum of the exodus will not decline for at least one or two years,” Cheng added.

Economy

But Yuen believes Hong Kong is still an attractive option for professional talent. In 2019, Hong Kong’s economy dropped into a two-year recession before rebounding last year with 6.4% growth.

“If the pandemic measure will be eased and business is still thriving in Hong Kong, top talents will come back.”

“For homegrown top talents, still the low tax and competitive wage in Hong Kong is quite attractive. If they choose to leave, they will likely make a big monetary sacrifice on top of separating from their families and friends. It’s never easy.”

It is premature to see the end of the coronavirus pandemic

The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that it would be premature to terminate the coronavirus pandemic since contagion remains high in many countries and global vaccination has not reached the minimum required.

The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus/ EFE/EPA/JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT/File

“It is too early to claim victory. There are still many countries with low vaccine coverage and there is high transmission” to see the end of the pandemic, he said at a virtual press conference WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Adhanom considered the reduction in contagion globally “encouraging” and that some countries are lifting restrictions, but recalled that the threat of a new variant remains “real” and that the only way to end the pandemic is through vaccination. .

While 56% of the world’s population has already received the complete guideline, in countries with fewer resources that figure is reduced to 9%, when the objective of the who is that it reaches 70% in all states.

“Although omicron is less severe, the number of hospitalized and dead is higher than that of delta, due to its greater volume, due to the accumulated health burden and because the levels of vaccination coverage are insufficient,” he said. the head of the Department of Emerging Diseases, Maria Van Kerkhove.

The adviser to the director of the WHO, Bruce Aylward, recalled that the necessary supply exists to achieve the immunization goal, but that its control is “in very few hands.”

“The only way to achieve global security is with a more equitable distribution,” he said.

The pandemic and its effects on mental health

The WHO recalled that covid-19 has also put a “high toll” on mental health and that the greatest effects for it have been recorded in the areas hardest hit by the virus.

According to a study by this organization, the number of severe depressions increased by 27.6% during the first year of the pandemic, and the number of cases of anxiety, by 25.6%.

For this reason, the WHO highlights the need to take into account mental health and psychological support when dealing with the coronavirus.

Ukraine and the urgent need for a safe corridor

The appearance of Adhanom and other senior WHO officials was also focused on the situation in Ukraine, and included a call for the “urgent need” to establish a safe corridor to facilitate the arrival of medical supplies in the midst of the war with Russia.

The first shipment of medical equipment, transported from Dubai, will arrive in Poland tomorrow and will include specialized medical equipment that could cover the needs of around 150,000 people, the WHO announced.

Adhamom pointed out that there will be more shipments in the coming days and explained that 5.2 million dollars (4.7 million euros in exchange) have already been withdrawn from the WHO emergency fund, but that another 45 million (40 million euros) for the next three months.

“There is some access to material, but given the evolution of the conflict, we fear a worsening of the situation,” said the Director of WHO-Ukraine, Jarno Habicht.

Habicht lamented the impossibility of distributing the medical supplies stored in the WHO warehouses in Kiev, citing the lack of oxygen and medicines and the problems in carrying out the polio vaccination campaign among the concerns.

The WHO also expressed concern about reports of attacks on hospitals and health personnel, although it admitted that so far only one has been confirmed last week.
“The neutrality of hospitals and staff must be respected and protected. To do otherwise would be a violation of international law,” Adhamom said.

Biden Outlines New Strategy to Emerge From Pandemic

Washington — 

The White House released a plan Wednesday to manage COVID-19 so that Americans can “move forward safely” without shutting down schools and businesses.

The 96-page plan involves additional funding from Congress for this new stage of the pandemic.

The plan was previewed by President Joe Biden on Tuesday night during his State of the Union address. He announced that starting next week, more free rapid tests will be available online. Later this month, pharmacy clinics will be able to hand out antiviral pills to be taken immediately by people who receive a positive test.

“We’re launching the Test to Treat initiative so people can get tested at a pharmacy. And if they’re positive, receive antiviral pills on the spot at no cost,” Biden said during his address.

FILE – A customer makes a purchase at a drug store selling at-home coronavirus COVID-19 tests in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, Feb. 6, 2022.

The plan also includes mass production of about 1 billion vaccine doses every year in case a new variant arises. The new formula would be distributed within 100 days of detection of a new variant. Global distributions of the vaccine are also included in the plan so that future mutations can be addressed on a global scale.

The plan will require more funds on top of the $1.9 trillion COVID relief package that was administered last year. That money has been spent or obligated through contracts. Officials have not stated how much will be needed for the new plan.

“Without these investments, many of the activities described … cannot be initiated or sustained,” the White House said Wednesday.

“America must maintain the tools — vaccines, boosters, treatments, tests and masks — to protect against COVID-19 and dramatically decrease the risk of the most severe outcomes,” the updated National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan stated.

During his address to Congress, Biden also called for less political polarization than there has been in the country for the past two years.

“We can’t change how divided we’ve been. … But we can change how we move forward — on COVID-19 and other issues we must face together.”

In the past month, the U.S. has reported nearly 4.64 million cases and nearly 65,500 deaths from COVID-19, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. Nearly 66% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated against the virus that causes COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins.

Ukraine, Pandemic, Economy, Political Divisions, to Dominate Biden’s 1st State of the Union Address

WHITE HOUSE — 

Escalating conflict in Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic and — as always — the economy, are likely to dominate President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union speech on Tuesday.

The constitutionally mandated address is the rhetorical highlight of the year for the U.S. president. Joe Biden is no exception, but this year’s State of the Union — his first, although he has previously addressed a joint session of Congress — comes at an especially fraught time.

As if to underscore that, Capitol police said Sunday that they were taking extra precautions at the site of the speech.

A barrier is placed behind a security fence in preparation for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 27, 2022.

“Out of an abundance of caution, and in conjunction with the United States Secret Service, a plan has been approved to put up the inner perimeter fence around the Capitol building for the State of the Union Address,” said United States Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger. “I have also requested support from outside law enforcement agencies as well as the National Guard to assist with our security precautions.”

Ukraine crisis

The White House says Biden is likely, during the Tuesday night speech, to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and, his wider view of the world. But press secretary Jen Psaki stressed that the situation is rapidly changing — and the president’s words may evolve before he speaks in front of legislators.

FILE – White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Dec. 22, 2021, in Washington.

“We are in the middle of an active invasion,” she said Friday. “So I just can’t give you a preview of what that will look like in the State of the Union. As it relates to how the president views his approach to foreign policy — you know, the president ran for president wanting to return America’s seat at the world, wanting to return to a time where other leaders around the world could trust the word and the commitments of the United States, and what you have seen over the last few months, is the president deliver on exactly that.”

In the past week, Biden has delivered three speeches on the escalating crisis in Ukraine; but, in his deeply politically divided nation, analysts say Biden should expect a frosty reception when talking about what he describes as the greatest threat to global security since World War II.

FILE – People coming from Ukraine descend from a ferry boat to enter Romania after crossing the Danube river at the Isaccea-Orlivka border crossing between Romania and Ukraine on Feb. 26, 2022.

“The country generally rallies behind a president when we face an international crisis,’ said Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute. “If you watch [Fox News TV host] Tucker Carlson, or listen to Donald Trump, or know what many Republicans in Congress have been saying, we’re not going to get that rallying around the president by a significant share of the population. The tribal divisions are there now, for even things that affect American national security.”

Recent public opinion polls indicate the president’s approval rating has dipped since the early days of his administration, when the Gallup survey reported 57% of Americans said they approved of the job he was doing. The same group’s poll conducted in the first half of February reported Biden now has a 41% job approval rating.

FILE – President Donald Trump gestures while speaking as Russian President Vladimir Putin looks on during their joint news conference at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018.

Trump, the former president, has been outspoken in his support of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his animus toward Biden. On Monday, Trump criticized Biden’s energy policy and said, “This war should never have started in the first place.”

Trump continues to maintain, in the face of overwhelming evidence otherwise, that the November 2020 election was rigged, and said that under his leadership, the U.S. “would right now continue to have record-low gas prices, as it was under my administration, and we would be supplying the world with oil and gas.”

It’s the economy, always

Presidents typically use this speech to sell Congress on their domestic agenda and bills they want to pass. And there is one topic every president is expected to cover in the State of the Union address, says Jeremi Suri, a historian at the University of Texas at Austin.

“He will argue that the economy is growing, that unemployment is low, and that we are going in the right direction and that inflation has to do with supply difficulties and pandemic difficulties, which he is working diligently to solve, and which will be resolved soon,” he said. “And every president comments on the economy because they all want to say the state of the economy is such that we are getting richer, we are doing better than ever before. The only exceptions when presidents don’t talk about the economy are when we are at war ourselves.”

One thing that is certain: America, and the world, will be listening to what he has to say. The address begins at 9 p.m. Washington time, on Tuesday.

Ukraine, Pandemic, Economy Likely to Lead Biden’s First State of the Union Address

President Biden to use annual address to push agenda, and to discuss current hot topics including Ukraine, pandemic and economy. VOA’s Anita Powell has a preview.

Two years of a pandemic that hits Latin America

A 61-year-old Brazilian who had been in Italy presented symptoms and was admitted to a center in Sao Paulo, where the coronavirus was confirmed. It was the first official case of the pandemic in Latin America.

The arrival of the disease in Latin America, after several continental cases before in the US and Canada, was one of the reasons that led the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare the pandemic just 15 days later, March 11th.

“We must learn the great lessons of the pandemic. International cooperation mechanisms in the health area were not effective. Even today we perceive that, with more than ten billion vaccines distributed in the world, less than 11% of them went to poor countries », he explains to Efe Dimas Tadeu Covas, president of the Butantan Institute in Sao Paulo (Brazil)a pioneer biomedical research center for the manufacture of vaccines and research on covid-19 at the Latin American level.

Latin America was not prepared for a pandemic

As cases and deaths increased, it became clear that the region was not prepared for the impact of this disease.

The health crisis also generated social demonstrations that caused very strong political convulsions, especially in some countries.

On Paraguaythe lack of supplies and the discomfort with the government’s management were the trigger for intense protests that forced President Mario Abdo Benítez to make changes to his cabinet in March 2021.

For two weeks, the streets of the main Paraguayan cities were occupied by citizens expressing their anger at the collapse of a health system affected by low investment and corruption.

Negligence is also in the sights of many sectors when taking stock of the regional fight against the pandemic. The Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador is accused of this in Mexico and more specifically the person in charge of the fight against the disease, Hugo López-Gatell, who is blamed for Mexico being the fifth country with the most deaths in the world, with more than 316,000 deaths to date.

Criticism also points to López Obrador himself, who has tested positive for coronavirus twice and who is criticized for sometimes lowering the severity of the impact of the pandemic.

Regarding the economy, 2020, the first year of covid-19, was especially hard for Latin America, with a 7.7% contraction in regional GDP, according to data from the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC), while that in 2021 there was a certain recovery, of 3.7%.
By 2022, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects the region to grow just 2.4%.

Testimonies of a drama

The two years that have passed since the first infection in Latin America, with a balance to date of 146 million cases and 2.6 million deaths, have left many testimonies of pain.

And if there is a group that can relate this drama in the first person, it is that of health professionals, who have experienced the problem on a daily basis.

The health institutions “were not prepared, this surpassed them”, comments to Efe the Mexican nurse Margarita Reyeswho lost his father, José Margarito, 75, and his brother, 46, to the coronavirus.

“From the first moment I had to be in the emergency room, where they did not know how to handle the patients, who increased day by day,” he says, recounting how the intensive care units were filling up with patients as SARS spread. -CoV-2.

The testimony of this nurse contradicts the statements of the Mexican Government, which ensures that “no one was left without a bed.”

On Venezuelaa country with a serious economic crisis that especially affects the health sector, Estefania Polanco saw how her mother almost died due to lack of care, after being admitted to a hospital in the state of Miranda, in the center of the country.

«He was admitted on July 10, 2021, he was unconscious for four days with no hope of getting out of there. My father-in-law managed to get in to see it. They didn’t attend to her. They only changed her oxygen and gave her a few medications », this young woman, who finally had to hire personalized attention to attend to her mother, tells Efe.

The images are a faithful record of the calamities experienced, scenes between drama and horror, such as those experienced in Guayaquil (Ecuador), where at the beginning of the pandemic the corpses came to crowd the streets and houses due to the collapse of the health network and funeral services.

Workers at the Campo de Esperanza cemetery bury a victim of COVID-19 in Brasilia, Brazil. EFE / Joedson Alves

The education of children, the other side of the coin

The pandemic also dealt a heavy blow to the educational system of most Latin American countries, due to the closure of educational centers decreed by the authorities.

According to ECLAC, 167 million students have been affected by the stoppage of classes since March 2020.

Meanwhile, UNESCO estimates that the impact of school dropout has meant that 3.1 million children and young people have been permanently left out of the education system.

This is the case, for example, of Argentinawhere the majority of students will return to face-to-face classes this year, but tens of thousands of students, especially those belonging to the most vulnerable sectors, “disconnected” from the education system and have not returned.

“Clearly we are not going to recover all the boys, many do not want to return to a school that did not take care of them enough,” he explains to Efe Claudia Romero, Doctor of Education and researcher at the Torcuato di Tella University.

And in other places they have not yet started the return to classes, as is the case of Peruthe country with the highest mortality rate in the world, with more than 209,000 deaths (634 people per 100,000 inhabitants) where they have established the next month of March as the limit for returning to class.

vaccination

Mass immunization against the coronavirus began in Latin America in December 2020 and represented a turning point in terms of the growth of infections and deaths, although the process was not without setbacks and setbacks that put it to the test, such as the arrival of the omicron variant.

A nurse prepares a dose of the covid-19 vaccine in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. EFE/André Coelho

In this regard, the case of Chileone of the countries with the highest vaccination rate in the world -higher than 93% of adults-, but where the positivity rate once again exceeded the 35% barrier in these southern summer months.

This situation has challenged the capacity of hospitals and has increased mortality, despite measures such as the mandatory use of masks outside or PCR tests at airports.

On boliviathe plan that began with health personnel and was gradually extended to the rest of the adult population today even reaches those over five years of age, through the administration of vaccines such as Sputnik-V, Sinopharm, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna and Janssen .

For its part, Peru has taken advantage of the fact that it has a well-organized vaccination system to achieve progress that has made it possible to reduce the spread of the omicron variant at the beginning of this year.

In Central America, Panama and Costa Rica They have stood out for their high rates of diagnosis and vaccination, since both countries have more than 80% of the population with at least one dose of vaccine and more than 73% with two doses.

By contrast, Honduras and Guatemala have been left behind in the immunization process, especially in the latter country, where only 30% of the population has received two doses.

But perhaps the most paradoxical situation in the fight against the pandemic is that of Brazilwith a president like Jair Bolsonaro who defends postulates that border on denialism.

“Brazil was always recognized as an important country in the international health movement and, suddenly, it went on to declare itself against the measures of science, of the control of the pandemic, advances that were already considered consolidated,” comments the Professor Covas, from Butantan Institute.

But despite Bolsonaro’s ideas, the measures adopted by the state governments have made it possible for the country to be one of those with one of the highest immunization rates in the world, with more than 73% of its population following the guideline. complete, while 23% have already received the booster.

Haiti in the spotlight

With only 0.9% of the population with the complete vaccination schedule, Haitithe poorest country in the Americas, is a matter of concern for health authorities.

“The countries that are in the same situation as Haiti, such as many Africans, are presenting high numbers of transmission of the disease and are potentially generators of new variants. As long as we do not have a global action to attend to them, we are going to be exposed to these variants”, warns the president of the Butantan Institute.

If the matter is not taken action, this disturbing scenario could spread to other corners of a continent where the situation is not fully controlled, not even in the United States, the most powerful country in the world and the most affected by the pandemic, with more than 78 million cases, about 950,000 deaths and with only 64.7% of the population with the complete vaccination schedule, although the average number of infections is decreasing weekly.

US Shifting Global Pandemic Strategy as Vaccine Supply Outstrips Demand

White House — 

With the global vaccine supply exceeding distribution capacity, the Biden administration is acknowledging a need to adjust its pandemic response strategy to address hurdles faced by lower-income countries to vaccinate their citizens.

“It is clear that supply is outstripping demand and the area of focus really needs to be that ‘shots in arms’ work,” said Hilary Marston, White House senior policy adviser for global COVID, to VOA. “That’s something that we are laser-focused on for 2022.”

Marston said that the administration has helped boost global vaccine supply through donations, expanding global manufacturing capacity and support for COVAX, the international vaccine-sharing mechanism supported by the United Nations and health organizations Gavi and CEPI.

Following supply setbacks in 2021, COVAX’s supply is no longer a limiting factor, a Gavi spokesperson told VOA. He said COVAX now has the flexibility to “focus on supporting the nuances of countries’ strategies, capacity, and demand.”

However, the pivot from boosting vaccine supply to increasing delivery capacity depends on whether the administration can secure funding from Congress, including funds for the U.S. government’s Initiative for Global Vaccine Access, or Global VAX, a program launched in December by USAID, the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Global VAX is billed as a whole-of-government effort to turn vaccines in vials into vaccinations in arms around the world. It includes bolstering cold chain supply and logistics, service delivery, vaccine confidence and demand, human resources, data and analytics, local planning, and vaccine safety and effectiveness.

Four-hundred-million dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act has been put aside for this initiative, on top of the $1.3 billion for global vaccine readiness the administration has committed. Activists say this is not nearly enough, but USAID says it’s a good first step.

“The U.S. government will surge support for an initial subset of countries in sub-Saharan Africa that have demonstrated the potential for rapid acceleration of vaccine uptake with intensive financial, technical, and diplomatic support,” a USAID spokesperson told VOA.

Those countries include Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, Eswatini, Ghana, Lesotho, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

FILE – A worker handles the cargo of COVID-19 vaccines, donated through the U.N.-backed COVAX program in Madagascar, May 8, 2021.

Critical bottleneck

In January, COVAX had 436 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to allocate to lower-income countries, according to a document published in mid-February. Those countries, however, only asked for 100 million doses to be distributed by the end of May – the first time in 14 allocation rounds that supply has outstripped demand, the document from the COVAX Independent Allocation of Vaccines Group said.

“We’ve seen now 11 billion plus doses of vaccine being manufactured,” said Krishna Udayakumar to VOA. “We’re estimating 14- to 16- plus billion doses of vaccine being available in 2022,” added Udayakumar, who is founding director of the Duke Global Health Innovation Center and leads a team that tracks global vaccine production and distribution.

But rather than fulfilment of vaccination targets, the oversupply highlights a weakness in global distribution capacity, which Udayakumar said is becoming “the critical bottlenecks.”

Only 12% percent of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose, according to country data compiled by Our World in Data. Many countries still face massive hurdles to get those shots in arms, including gaps in cold-chain storage, and lack of funding to support distribution networks.

Global COVID funding

As the administration prepares to pivot its global pandemic response, humanitarian organizations are criticizing it for requesting insufficient funding from Congress.

“After two devastating years of this pandemic, U.S. leaders are dropping the ball on fighting COVID-19. Today we learned the Biden administration briefed Congress on the need for $5 billion in funding from Congress to fight COVID-19,” said Tom Hart, president of the ONE Campaign, in a statement to VOA last week. “What the world needs, though, is a formal request for $17 billion.”

Hart argued the $5 billion funding would be insufficient to provide critical resources needed to deliver vaccines, tests, and life-saving treatments to low-income countries, and achieve the administration’s goal of 70% global vaccination by September – a goal that is already far below pace.

The White House said the number is not final. “I don’t have any specific numbers; we’re still in conversation with the Hill (Congress) at this point about funding and funding needs, both domestically and internationally,” press secretary Jen Psaki told VOA on Wednesday.

In a statement to VOA, the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, Rosa DeLauro, said they are still reviewing the funding request. “I will work with my colleagues to meet these important public health needs at home and around the world,” she said.

Meanwhile, Gavi, a COVAX co-sponsor, said it has only raised $195 million out of the $5.2 billion it asked for this quarter. The Gavi spokesperson told VOA the call to donors only went out in January and typically campaigns such as this require extensive rounds of consultation.

“The reason we launched a campaign to raise US $5.2 billion in additional funding is to ensure countries are able to roll out vaccines rapidly and at scale and have the resources on hand to be able to immediately step in as and when countries’ needs change,” the spokesperson said. “We need resources available now to prevent lower income countries once again finding themselves at the back of the queue. This is the only way we will break this pandemic.”­

TRIPS waiver

Humanitarian organization Oxfam also argues that $5 billion dollars is not enough.

“We need to do much more to vaccinate the world, including investing in local manufacturing and most importantly, sharing the vaccine recipe,” Robbie Silverman, Oxfam’s senior advocacy manager told VOA.

Sharing vaccine recipes essentially means implementing a temporary TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) waiver at the World Trade Organization to allow the generic production of current vaccines, as proposed by South Africa and India in October 2021. The proposal is supported by the Biden administration but rejected by the European Union.

Following a summit between European Union and African Union leaders last week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered a compromise and said that the EU and AU will work together to deliver a solution within the next few months.

The U.S. is by far the biggest vaccine donor. The administration is sending 3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Angola, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Zambia and Uganda this week, bringing the total shipped globally to 470 million doses out of 1.2 billion doses pledged.

US Truckers Plan Pandemic Protest, Inspired by Canadian Counterparts

Taking a cue from demonstrations that paralyzed Canada’s capital city for weeks, U.S. truckers on Wednesday plan to embark on a 2,500-mile (4,000-km) cross-country drive toward Washington D.C. to protest coronavirus restrictions.

Organizers of the “People’s Convoy” say they want to “jumpstart the economy” and reopen the country. Their 11-day trek will approach the Beltway around the U.S. capital on March 5 “but will not be going into D.C. proper,” according to a statement.

The Pentagon said on Tuesday it had approved 400 D.C. National Guard troops to “provide support at designated traffic posts, provide command and control, and cover sustainment requirements” from Feb. 26 through March 7.

About 50 large tactical vehicles were also approved to be placed at traffic posts.

Brian Brase, a truck driver who is one of the organizers, said regardless of where the trucks stop “we’re not going anywhere” until the group’s demands are met. Those demands include an end to COVID-19 vaccine and mask requirements.

Most U.S. states are already easing some restrictions. In California, where the convoy begins, universal mask requirements were lifted last week while masks for vaccinated people are required only in high-risk areas such as public transit, schools and healthcare settings.

Another convoy was expected to leave Scranton, Pennsylvania – President Joe Biden’s hometown – on Wednesday morning and arrive on the 495 Beltway (highway) in Washington sometime during the afternoon.

Organizer Bob Bolus told WJLA news, an ABC affiliate in Washington, that his convoy has no intention to break laws or block traffic, but warned this could happen if their demands regarding pandemic mandates and the cost of fuel are not meant.

“They are not going to intimidate us and they are not going to threaten us. We’re the power, not them,” he said.

In Canada, pandemic-related protests choked streets in the capital Ottawa for more than three weeks and blocked the busiest land crossing between Canada and the United States – the Ambassador Bridge connecting Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario – for six days.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked rarely used emergency powers to end the protests, and Canadian police restored a sense of normalcy in Ottawa over the weekend.

“We plan to stay a while and hope they don’t escalate it the way Trudeau did with his disgusting government overreach,” Brase said from Adelanto, California, where the convoy will begin, about 80 miles (130 km) northeast of Los Angeles.

Brase said he expected thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, would participate. Organizers bill the convoy as nonpartisan, trucker-led, and supported by a wide range of ethnic minorities and religious faiths.

Economic growth in the United States – as in other countries – was brought to a juddering halt by the imposition of lockdowns in 2020 to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The economy has boomed since the federal government pumped in trillions of dollars in relief, growing 5.7% in 2021, the strongest since 1984 albeit from a low ebb in 2020, the Commerce Department reported in January.

Meanwhile, unemployment stands at 4%, close to the 3.5% rate of February 2020, just before the pandemic took hold, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But headwinds related to strained supply chains and inflation remain.

“It is now time to reopen the country,” the protest organizers said in a statement.

Among other demands, the protesters want an immediate end to the state of emergency in California – the most populous U.S. state with one of the world’s largest economies -that Governor Gavin Newsom has extended.

Nationwide, new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations due to the coronavirus have plummeted from all-time highs hit a month ago, though nearly 2,000 people per day are still dying from the disease and the number of total deaths is closing in on 1 million since the pandemic began.

When Will the Pandemic End?

It’s a question many have been asking for almost two years: when will the coronavirus pandemic end?

“Epidemiologically speaking, we don’t know. Perhaps in another month or two — if there’s no other variants of concern that pop up, at least here in United States,” says J. Alexander Navarro, assistant director of the Center for the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan.

“Socially, I think we’re kind of already at the point where the pandemic has ended. Many states are removing the vestiges of their mask mandates. We see people essentially moving on with their lives.”

As of February 16, 2022, about 78 million people in the United States have contracted COVID-19 and 923,067 of them have died. Seventy-six percent of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Not everyone chooses to wear a mask while riding the subway in New York City, January 28, 2022.

Sara Sawyer, a professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology at the University of Colorado Boulder, agrees the end might finally be in sight, in part thanks to Omicron, a COVID-19 variant that emerged in November 2021.

“It is essentially vaccinating many people who were resistant to getting vaccinated because a lot of those people got infected in this wave,” Sawyer says. “And so, that’s just going to make it really hard for viruses to spread through in these giant waves like Omicron anymore because we have so many people with resistance that they’ve acquired through previous infection or a vaccine.”

Experts predict that more than 70% of people in the United States are now either vaccinated or have recovered from a coronavirus infection, Sawyer says. She adds that an extra bonus for those who get an actual infection is that they develop much more sophisticated systems of immunity against that virus.

A pandemic is generally considered “over” when a virus becomes endemic.

“When viruses become predictable — in their patterns, in their seasonality and in the number of people that they might infect and the number of deaths that they might cause — we say that a virus has become endemic,” Sawyer says. “That means it has settled down into a long-term existence with the human population.”

A Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is administered at a recreation center in Wilmington, California, April 13, 2021.

And while COVID-19 might never completely go away, future variants are not expected to be as severe as past ones.

“If you were infected with one variant, and I was infected with another variant, and I ended up in the emergency room the next day, and you had just a tickle in your throat and went to your son’s baseball game, in the grocery store and to a birthday party, whose variant is going to spread better?” Sawyer says. “Your variant is going to spread better. We know from the history of viral evolution, viruses are snaking their way toward being less deadly and more transmissible. … Viruses become more transmissible when they don’t make people as sick.”

But the danger of calling the pandemic over before it’s really over remains.

“I think, socially, most people are leaning toward this pandemic being over when, epidemiologically, it’s not,” Navarro says. “There is essentially no going back. And the fear that I have today is that if we have another variant of concern that pops up, I don’t know if we’re going to get people to go back to masking, if we’re going to be able to implement any sort of structured closure orders if we need to.”

During the 1918 flu pandemic, which killed up to 50 million people worldwide, Americans got tired of being constrained and prematurely gave up on flu prevention measures. Two more waves of the flu pandemic hit the United States, resulting in more deaths.

A man is stopped from riding a streetcar because he isn’t wearing a face mask in Seattle, Washington, during the flu pandemic in 1918.

Clerks in New York City wear masks while working in 1918.

While some parallels can be drawn between COVID-19 and the 1918 flu pandemic, looking to the past isn’t always a good barometer for when this pandemic might end because of the advanced knowledge and technology that exists today.

“We know exactly what we’re supposed to do, and this is an advantage that people of the past did not necessarily have,” says Nükhet Varlik, associate professor of history at Rutgers University-Newark. “We have the vaccines. We have the public health regulations in place. We have the medical expertise, so we actually know what to do. So we’re actually at an unprecedented advantage when we compare ourselves to past societies. We can actually do the right things. Whether we do the right things, that’s another question.”

Varlik says asking when the pandemic might end is misleading, fueling false hopes rather than focusing on trying to control and mitigate the pandemic.

“It will become endemic, but that doesn’t mean that it cannot become pandemic again. So, it’s kind of like a dance … it can be pandemic or epidemic or endemic, and it can change over time,” Varlik says. “I am pretty confident that COVID will continue to be epidemic in one part of the world for the foreseeable future … and, of course, with travel and other means, it can spill over to other places, to other countries. Until it’s eliminated in the entire world, there is really no way of feeling safe from this disease.”

Protesters gather for a rally against COVID-19 vaccine mandates in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, on Jan. 23, 2022.

When epidemiologists will declare the pandemic over has a lot to do with how much disease a society is willing to accept and put up with, Navarro says. COVID-19 could become like the flu, killing tens of thousands of Americans every year, predominantly those in vulnerable medical categories.

“At some point, you just have to say to yourself, ‘You know, I live in the world. There are dangers in my world, infectious disease, car accidents.’ But you can’t let that cripple you. Those things have always been there,” biology professor Sawyer says. “I certainly would never want to send a message that this is now yet another thing that people need to worry and have anxiety about once this becomes endemic. Instead, get your vaccine, get your flu vaccine, protect yourself and then go on with your life.”

Lingering Pandemic Takes Toll on Americans’ Mental Health

After two years, the COVID-19 pandemic seems to be taking a toll on Americans’ mental health, with a growing number of people suffering from a wide array of issues, from anxiety to depression. Lesia Bakalets has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.

White House Prepares for Transition to Non-Crisis Stage of COVID Pandemic

Members of the White House COVID-19 Response Team Wednesday said they are cautiously optimistic about the trajectory of COVID-19 cases in the United States and the White House is preparing for the non-crisis stage of the pandemic.

During a virtual briefing Wednesday, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said the daily average of new COVID-19 cases was down 40% over the past seven days. She said hospitalizations dropped by 28% and deaths were down 9.5%.

Walensky told reporters the CDC was gathering community health data and said its public health guidance regarding wearing masks “would be updated soon.” Last week, Walensky said COVID-19 hospitalization and death numbers weren’t yet low enough to warrant altering recommendations.

But the CDC director explained Wednesday that while case numbers have been steadily trending downward, community spread remains substantial or high in 97% of U.S. counties. She said the CDC’s most critical concern remains severity of disease, which leads to hospitalization and threats to hospital capacity.

Walensky also said the availability and access to vaccines and treatments will factor into when and whether CDC guidelines can be modified or adjusted.

She said most states and municipalities announcing plans to ease their restrictions are doing so in phases, with most saying they will begin lifting their mask rules by the end of February or early March. Walensky said she anticipates possible CDC guideline updates to “intersect.”

Meanwhile, White House COVID-19 Response Team Coordinator Jeff Zients said the White House has so far distributed 200 million free individual at-home COVID-19 tests around the country. He said the White House has another 800 million on hand for U.S. residents who want them.

Sanitary garbage from the pandemic also affects health

The figures for sanitary waste generated during the pandemic are exorbitant. Poorly managed waste also affects health, exposing health workers to potential needle stick injuries, burns and harmful microorganisms, while also impacting communities living near landfills and improper waste disposal sites due to to air pollution, poor water quality or disease-carrying pests

Medical personnel in protective suits treat patients at the Wuhan Fang Cang makeshift hospital in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, 17 February 2020 EFE/EPA/STRINGER CHINA OUT

This is stated by the World Health Organization (WHO), which estimates that most of the 87,000 tons of equipment sent by the UN to protect medical personnel have become waste.

In his analysis, he highlights that the accumulation of this sanitary waste places enormous pressure on sanitary waste management systems around the world.

It is estimated that most of this material has ended up as garbage.

To that must be added vaccines, tests, masks and other materials.

Outside the initiatives carried out by the UN, “the numbers are even more incomprehensible,” says this United Nations organization.

According to their newsletter, the WHO study was carried out based on the approximately 87,000 tons of personal protective equipment purchased between March 2020 and November 2021 and shipped to countries through a joint United Nations emergency initiative.

It is estimated that most of this material has ended up as sanitary waste.

The authors of the report revealed that the shipment of more than 140 million test kits could generate another 2,600 tons of non-infectious waste (mainly plastic) and 731,000 liters of chemical waste.

Y the provision of more than 8,000 million doses of vaccines would have produced an additional 144,000 tons of waste in the form of syringes, needles and safe deposit boxes.

The authors point out that these figures only provide an initial estimate of the magnitude of the problem and do not take into account none of the products purchased outside the UN initiative, nor the waste generated by the public, such as disposable medical masks.

Illustration by Maria Gonzalez

Sanitary garbage

Although, as Dr. michael ryan, executive director of the Organization’s Health Emergencies Programit is absolutely vital to provide healthcare workers with the right personal protective equipment, but at the same time, “it is also vital to ensure that it can be used safely without affecting the surrounding environment.”

To achieve this, the organization highlights the need for effective management systems that include guidance for health personnel on what to do when medical equipment and products have already been used.

However, the reality of waste recycling in hospital facilities is far from optimal.

Nowadays, 30% of sites are not equipped to handle existing loads of healthcare waste, let alone the additional amount generated by COVID-19. This figure rises to 60% in less developed countries.

for the la Director of Environment, Climate Change and Health of the Organization, María NeiraCovid “is forcing the world to recognize the gaps and neglected aspects” of healthcare waste and the way we produce, use and dispose of our healthcare resources, “from cradle to grave”,

In this sense, Neira sees the need to carry out a significant change at all levels in the way we manage the flow of health care waste both globally and “up to the hospital floors”.

In his opinion, this transformation is “a basic requirement of climate-smart health care systems, to which many countries committed at the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference and, of course, of a healthy recovery from COVID-19 and preparation for other health emergencies in the future.”

Some recommendations

Among the recommendations of the report of the who contained in the aforementioned bulletin include the use of:

• Ecological packaging and transport
• Safe and reusable personal protective equipment (for example, medical gloves and masks)
• Recyclable or biodegradable materials

It also advises investing:

• In waste treatment technologies that do not require incineration
• In reverse logistics that support centralized treatment and investments in the recycling sector to ensure that materials, such as plastics, can have a second life

Cali exceeds the fourth peak of the covid pandemic - Cali - Colombia

Several days of anguish passed after the number of cases covid-19 began to increase in the capital of the Cauca Valley. However, thanks to the number of vaccinated in Cali, he can officially say that passed the fourth peak of the pandemic.

The announcement comes after several meetings between advisers from the Cali Health Secretariat and the district agency’s team of epidemiologists.

(We recommend you read: Alarm from the Governor of the Valley due to EPS intervention)

“At this time the positivity of the cases is at 15 percent and the speed of transmission shows a number of infected for each infected of 0.5 percent, “said Miyerlandi Torres Agredo, secretary of health.

Thus, the official explained that these percentages mean that the peak of infections has already been overcome, so it is now a duty to reduce the occupation of Intensive Care Units.

He clarified that 85 percent of the ICU beds that are currently occupied, and 36 percent are people infected with the virus.

“Let us remember that two weeks ago it was 45 percent with covid load. Now we are at 36 percent, which has also been decreasing mortality, “added Torres Agredo.

(Also: What happened to a young man, after a chase, hitting a pole and shooting?)

According to the health entity, 20 daily deaths are averaged, when at the height of the peak they exceeded 40. “67 percent of the deaths correspond to people over 60 years of age who had not been vaccinated or who did not have the reinforcement dose ”, sustained the secretary of health.

According to the data collected by the epidemiological team, the fourth peak, led by the omicron variant, left a total of 83,420 confirmed infections and 769 deaths. Compared to the second peak, the last one that occurred without vaccination in the population, and there were 40,320 more cases, but 300 fewer deaths.

In other words, while the lethality of the second peak was 0.02 percent, that of the fourth reached 0.009 percent. This allows us to calculate that during this last peak Nearly 1,300 deaths were averted.

“67 percent of deaths correspond to people over 60 years of age who had not been vaccinated or who did not have the booster dose”

(You may be interested in: Debate over the power cut from Emcali to Claro due to a millionaire debt)

Advance Factors

According to the analysis of health experts, they attribute the progress thanks to different factors that imply the decrease in figures.

One of those reasons is the progress of the vaccination planadjusted to the goals proposed by the Ministry of Health.

On the other hand, according to studies it was possible to determine that the nature of the Omicron variant is less lethal; and another of the factors to overcome the fourth peak was the existence of antibodiesgenerated naturally in citizens who were previously infected.

(Also: Video: A driver runs over an alleged robber on the Cali road)

Torres considered the news a relief for Caleños, and likewise invited citizens to continue with the biosafety protocolsmainly the use of the mask.

“Although the immunization process is going well, it is not yet time to stop using the mask, since the levels of vaccination do not allow us to be safe without its use,” he specified.

CALI

More news from Colombia

-Did the peak of covid-19 end in Medellín? This is what the Mayor says

-El Rodadero affected by informality and lack of control

A relief for Cali after overcoming the fourth peak of the covid pandemic - Cali - Colombia

Several days of anguish passed after the number of covid cases began to increase in the capital of Valle de Cauca. However, thanks to the number of vaccinated, Cali can officially say that passed the fourth peak of the pandemic.

The announcement comes after several meetings between advisers from the Cali Health Secretariat and the district agency’s team of epidemiologists.

(We recommend you read: Alarm from the Governor of the Valley due to EPS intervention)

“At this time the positivity of the cases is at 15 percent and the speed of transmission shows a number of infected for each infected of 0.5 percent, “said Miyerlandi Torres Agredo, secretary of health.

Thus, the official explained that these percentages mean that the peak of infections has already been overcome, so it is now a duty to reduce the occupation of Intensive Care Units.

He clarified that 85 percent of the ICU beds that are currently occupied, and 36 percent are people infected with the virus.

“Let us remember that two weeks ago it was 45 percent with covid load. Now we are at 36 percent, which has also been decreasing mortality, “added Torres Agredo.

(Also: What happened to a young man, after a chase, hitting a pole and shooting?)

According to the health entity, 20 daily deaths are averaged, when at the height of the peak they exceeded 40. “67 percent of the deaths correspond to people over 60 years of age who had not been vaccinated or who did not have the reinforcement dose ”, sustained the secretary of health.

According to the data collected by the epidemiological team, the fourth peak, led by the Omicron variant, left a total of 83,420 confirmed infections and 769 deaths. Compared to the second peak, the last one that occurred without vaccination in the population, and there were 40,320 more cases, but 300 fewer deaths.

In other words, while the lethality of the second peak was 0.02 percent, that of the fourth reached 0.009 percent. This allows us to calculate that during this last peak Nearly 1,300 deaths were averted.

“67 percent of deaths correspond to people over 60 years of age who had not been vaccinated or who did not have the booster dose”

(You may be interested in: Debate over the power cut from Emcali to Claro due to a millionaire debt)

Advance Factors

According to the analysis of health experts, they attribute the progress thanks to different factors that imply the decrease in figures.

One of those reasons is the progress of the vaccination planadjusted to the goals proposed by the Ministry of Health.

On the other hand, according to studies it was possible to determine that the nature of the Omicron variant is less lethal; and another of the factors to overcome the fourth peak was the existence of antibodiesgenerated naturally in citizens who were previously infected.

(Also: Video: A driver runs over an alleged robber on the Cali road)

Torres considered the news as a relief for the people of Cali, and likewise invited citizens to continue with biosafety protocols, mainly the use of face masks.

“Although the immunization process is going well, it is not yet time to stop using the mask, since the levels of vaccination do not allow us to be safe without its use,” he specified.

CALI

More news from Colombia

-Did the peak of covid-19 end in Medellín? This is what the Mayor says

-El Rodadero affected by informality and lack of control

85% of nursing has mental health affected by the pandemic

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on nursing continues, 80% of these professionals are still dedicated to addressing covid. After two years of health crisis, 84.7% affirm that their mental health has been affected and almost half, 46.4%, have thought at some point of leaving their profession.

Campaign in support of nursing in a pandemic of the General Council of Nursing. Courtesy photo

This is reflected in the largest survey carried out to date by the General Nursing Council, “Radiography of the professional and emotional situation of the nursing profession” during the pandemic with 19,300 nurses (of the 275,000 who work in public and private centers of all Spain) who have answered between January 25 and February 1 of this year.

Most of the respondents belong to public health, 60%, and have 16 or more years of experience.

The study was presented by the president of the General Nursing Council from Spain, Florentino Pérez Raya, who highlighted that these are “shocking” data that show a greater affectation of these professionals compared to other sectors of society, together with “work hardship”.

The mental health of nursing during the pandemic

The study asked about the psychological and mental affectation that nurses may have experienced as a result of the COVID pandemic: depression, anxiety, insomnia, stress, and fear or fear, and 84.7% have been affected by one of the these disorders:

Graphic of the survey of the General Council of Nursing

Of all nursing, the most affected emotionally and psychologically are the nurses in critical care units -where the mortality rate is highest-, followed by emergencies and primary care.

The study shows that 16.5% of nurses have been forced to request sick leave due to anxiety, stress or mental exhaustion -especially in the socio-health area (19.1%)-, to which are added the derived from infections.

Close to half of the professionals (48%) have suffered from covid-19 and, of all of them, 14.5% have already been infected two or more times. Its incidence far exceeds that of the general population, around 21%.

Discontent and outrage

98.7% do not feel that their work is valued by politicians nor do they trust that they will give them solutions and as a consequence 91.7% believe that it is necessary to mobilize to achieve solutions to work overload and physical exhaustion and mental health, in addition to improving working conditions.

Thus, 46.4% have thought at some point of leaving their profession, a “shocking” fact that forces us to reflect and adopt improvement measures to provide immediate solutions, according to Pérez Raya.

The area in which more professionals have had this thought is critical care, although the General Nursing Council does not know the exact number of those who have finally taken the step in that direction.

Graph from the Nursing and Pandemic Survey of the General Nursing Council

In addition, 28.4% of those surveyed stated that they would not enroll in this career again, a percentage that reaches 30% in the case of those professionals who work in hospitals and ICUs.

And of the 9.3% who are in a position to take early retirement, 63% express their desire to do so. In absolute terms, around 15,000 nurses who, meeting the requirements to retire earlier, even if it means a reduction in their pension, would be willing to do so.

This x-ray of the profession reflects that reality is “very crude” and the lack of social recognition contributes to this.

“Nurses have gone from recognition to total oblivion. We are in an unsustainable situation and it is causing something unthinkable” due to the vocational nature of the profession: abandonment, according to the president of nursing in Spain who has announced mobilizations at the national level.

Covid and workload

Attention to covid is taking over an important part of the activity of the profession to the detriment of the rest of pathologies and patients.

Thus, 79.3% affirm that their health care has to do with covid patients to a greater or lesser extent at the end of each day: 27.1% dedicate almost completely (most of their daily work) and 52 .2% part of their tasks to this type of patient, and only 20.7 of the professionals say they have little or no relationship with the coronavirus.

Crisis in Calvary due to the war and the pandemic - Other Cities - Colombia

In the town The puddle and in villages located on the banks of the Tapaje River, in Nariño, live confined.

There are more than 40,000 inhabitants who are afraid and hungry.

Food does not arrive by rivers in the region or by the sea, as the means to do it, mainly.

(Also read: This is how the mayor of El Charco, Nariño, escaped from dying in arson)

River transport has been suspended for two weeks, when public order worsened in this town on the coast of the department.

Business premises have been closed for two weeks and some are open intermittently.

The population is surrounded by a war without quarter between illegals and ‘narcos’ who dispute the territory of illicit crops. But it is also in the middle of a crossfire between these organized armed groups and the Army.

At the same time there are accusations from some of the communities towards soldiers for alleged excesses of force.

(Also: They kill an indigenous during the burial of two other natives murdered in Cauca)

Meanwhile, authorities are searching in the urban area of ​​El Charco for those who caused a fire in the house of Mayor Víctor Candelo.

The flames started on the first floor of the house, where there is a drugstore, and spread to the second level. There, the president and his family rested, including his son, his wife and two grandchildren. The attack happened in the early hours of Friday.

The president is serving a measure of house arrest, while a judicial process is advancing for incurring alleged acts of corruption. He was arrested in September 2021.

He said that he does not understand the reason for this attack on him and asks his aggressors not to involve his family.

Likewise, the mayor in charge of that town, José Denis Obregón, and the municipal government secretary, Franklin Yesquen Hinestroza, stated that the fear and discomfort of the community is registered, above all, in the Agua Prieta village due to illegal actions, but also by the presence ofl Army. This population fears that the presence of the military will put them even more at risk.

(Also read: He tied a plastic chair to his bicycle to take his daughter to school)

Obregón said that there is hunger, because food does not reach the entire population.

The discomfort of the residents became more evident since January 25, when they staged a peaceful protest to request the immediate withdrawal of the Army from the municipality.

From that day on, the trade was closed. In the Mayor’s Office and in other official entities, the operation is at half speed.

Similarly, students from schools in rural areas stopped attending classes and what is even more serious “possible displacements from the rural area to the urban area are announced, which could generate chaos and more food shortages, because there are no boats are entering the municipality.” This was reiterated by the mayor in charge.

Obregón maintained that the pertinent actions will be promoted to generate spaces for dialogue with the communities, for which he called on the community councils, indigenous reservations and organizations that defend human rights to build consultation processes that avoid disturbing public order with acts of violence.

Given the difficult situation in that Nariñense municipality, the Government of Nariño advanced an extraordinary security council, in which the decision was made to set up a dialogue table with the different social actors and thus reach an agreed solution to the conflict.

The Secretary of the Government of Nariño, Amílcar Pantoja, said that the civil authorities with the aid organizations are carrying out a detailed follow-up of the situation in El Charco.

What does the Army say?

The Task Force Command Joint Stabilization and Consolidation Hercules reported that on January 20 he learned that the community of some villages in Alto Tapaje had allegedly intended to carry out a riot against the Public Force.

He also reported that on January 23, at the sidewalk The Supi, the troops of the Battalion of Land Operations No. 15 carried out military control of the area and “they were surrounded by the community, expressing their rejection of the presence of the military units.”

The Army informed that there would be “constraint of the ‘Franco Benavides’ structure, of the FARC dissidents”. That this constraint is on the community, looking for it to be reluctant and pressing its exit from the territory.

According to the Army statement, this illegal armed group “intends to prevent the troops from maintaining their advance towards nodal points, where there is a strong presence of all the links in the drug trafficking chain.”

The Army indicated in the letter that its actions are due to comply with its constitutional duty to respect the laws, guarantee the safety of citizens and mitigate the risks to the residents, in response to early warning No. 080 of 2018 from the Ombudsman. Town.

This alert warns about a situation of human rights violation in El Charco.

It was also emphasized that the troops of the Pegaso Operational Command and the Marine Infantry Brigade No. 4 will continue to carry out military operations in that region of the Pacific Coast of Nariño, “aimed at defending the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and protecting the civilian population.”

PASTURE