Seite - 16 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

VULNERABLE16 suddenly left with no work.61 Millions took to the roads, returning to their villages and towns. In many LMICs, where millions live in densely populated slums, the basic prerequisites for lockdown sur- vival—such as clean water, toilets, space, money to buy food, and refrigerators—do not exist. Those venturing out to find work or food were sometimes brutally beaten by police for breaking lockdown restrictions.62 The implausibility of following physical distancing, combined with the inability of many LMICs to provide a safety net for their citizens during lockdown, brought resistance to the generic or “one size fits all” pandemic response.63 As High-Income Countries (HICs) transformed their hospitals to handle the pandemic, they also began transforming their foreign aid funding into COVID-19 support. In preparing their own national responses, LMICs found themselves competing in the global market against HICs for testing kits, ventilators, and protective gear. LMICs generally had inadequate supplies and health care workers to deal with the pandemic. Moreover, there has been an “eviction effect,” where the pandemic response has diverted attention from other health care needs and infectious disease control programs.64 The devastation from the lockdowns and shutdown of most health care and public health programs is expected to erase years of progress.65 As with the global competition for limited personal protective equipment (PPE)—masks, gloves, and so forth—and ventilators, there is a race to find a vaccine. Who will discover the vaccine first, who will get it first, and will LMICs get the vaccine? These are all open 61. “The Impact of COVID-19 on Informal and Migrant Workers in India” (13 May 2020), online: International  Growth  Centre <https://www.theigc.org/ event/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-informal-and-migrant-workers-in-india/>. 62. Isaac Mugabi, “COVID-19: Security Forces in Africa Brutalizing Civilians Under Lockdown” (20 April 2020), online: DW <https://www.dw.com/en/covid-19- security-forces-in-africa-brutalizing-civilians-under-lockdown/a-53192163>. 63. Alex Broadbent & Benjamin T H Smart, “Why a One-Size-Fits-All Approach to COVID-19 Could Have Lethal Consequences”, The Conversation (23 March 2020), online: <http://theconversation.com/why-a-one-size-fits-all-approach-to-covid-19- could-have-lethal-consequences-134252>. 64. Timothy Robertson et al, “Early Estimates of the Indirect Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Maternal and Child Mortality in Low-Income and Middle-Income Countries: A Modelling Study” [2020] Lancet Global Health, online: The Lancet <https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(20)30229-1/ abstract>. 65. “Covid-19 is Undoing Years of Progress in Curbing Global Poverty”, The Economist (23 May 2020), online: <https://www.economist.com/international/ 2020/05/23/covid-19-is-undoing-years-of-progress-in-curbing-global-poverty>.