UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing 31 March 2020

COVID-19 pandemic - humanitarian situation and responses

Jens Laerke, for United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that eight cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed in Libya, where the ongoing clashes and the COVID-19 restriction measures were hampering humanitarian access and impacting humanitarian assistance across the country. In Afghanistan, 114 people had been confirmed to have the virus; the humanitarian community was prioritizing COVID-19 prevention and response, and adopting a whole-of-community approach that took into consideration internally displaced people, returnees and host communities. Six cases and two deaths had been confirmed in Sudan, where on 29 March, the Humanitarian Coordinator had echoed the Secretary-General’s call for a ceasefire: “It is time to put the armed conflict on lockdown, pull back from hostilities and focus together on saving lives.”

On 30 March, the Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock had briefed the Security Council on the situation in Syria, where ten cases of COVID-19, including one death, had been confirmed. All efforts to prevent, detect and respond to COVID-19 were impeded by Syria’s fragile health system, high levels of population movement, challenges to obtaining critical supplies including protective equipment and ventilators, and the practical difficulties of implementing isolation and protective measures in areas of displacement, with high population density and low levels of sanitation services.

Elisabeth Byrs, for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said that nearly 8 million Syrians were food insecure and already extremely vulnerable, and that, after nine years of conflict, they would need more support than ever to stay healthy. As Syria faced a progressive lockdown due to COVID-19, families were at risk of being pushed further into poverty by a loss of income, a deteriorating economy and rising food prices. Families were increasingly relying on negative coping strategies, such as reducing the number of meals and portion sizes they ate each day, selling livestock and assets in order to purchase food, and going further into debt. Recalling that more than 939,000 people had been displaced by the escalating conflict in northwest Syria since December 2019, Ms. Byrs stressed that an outbreak of COVID-19 in the overcrowded camps for internally displaced persons could have devastating consequences.

Asked about the Global Humanitarian Response Plan COVID-19, Mr. Laerke said that to date, $364 million of the $2 billion had been funded, representing 18 per cent. He stressed that one of the major constraints to humanitarian responses to COVID-19 and other crises was the restriction to the movements of humanitarian personnel, as well as travel and logistics restrictions that impacted on the continuity of the supply chains. Mr. Laerke stressed that planes were available but there was a need to negotiate humanitarian exceptions to the travel restrictions that countries had introduced to control the spread of the virus.

A journalist asked about the scientific basis for the United Nations Secretary-General’s statement that COVID-19 pandemic in Africa could cause millions of deaths. Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, said that his statement should be seen as an alarm and an appeal to pay attention to the situation on the continent and to support the most vulnerable countries to protect the lives of their populations. The aim was to highlight the vulnerability of certain countries, and to stress that if they were not helped, millions could be infected or die.

COVID-19 pandemic, refugees and asylum-seekers

Cecile Pouilly, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), detailed a series of measures UNHCR was taking in its field operations to help respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency and prevent further spread. In Bangladesh, training had started for staff working in health facilities serving the Rohingya camps, where some 850,000 refugees lived in very dense conditions. In Greece, UNHCR had been stepping up its support to the authorities to increase water and sanitation capacity, deliver hygiene items, and to establish and furnish medical units and spaces for screening, isolation and quarantine. In Brazil, UNHCR and partners had established an isolation area in Boa Vista to host possible suspected cases among Venezuelan refugees and migrants and were distributing 1,000 hygiene kits to the indigenous populations in Belem and Santarem. More information, including on action in other countries, in the press release.

Responding to questions about the situation of refugees and asylum-seekers in Boa Vista in Brazil, Ms. Pouilly explained that an isolation area had been set up to accommodate suspected cases of COVID-19 among refugees and host population. So far, no cases had been reported. As for the denial of the threat of the coronavirus by the Brazilian president Bolsonaro, she stressed that UNHCR was operating in line with recommendations by the World Health Organisation. In addition, it was distributing hygiene kits to indigenous peoples and continued to improve handwashing facilities.

Asked about the situation of asylum-seekers in Mexico, Ms. Pouilly said that the status of asylum in the current situation was not clear. So far, the number of refugees infected with COVID-19 remained limited. In Mexico, UNHCR was on the ground and was supporting asylum-seekers by setting up and equipping shelters, providing handwashing facilities and hygiene and health information, and establishing isolation and treatment centres for suspected cases.

Ms. Pouilly stressed the importance of including refugees and asylum-seekers in COVID-19 response plans. The information about the number of doctors and nurses in refugee settings was not available, but UNHCR was working with partners, authorities and refugees themselves to strengthen the capacity for early detection, prevention and community outreach. An example of this approach could be seen in Bangladesh.

COVID-19 health and epidemiological situation

Tarik Jašarević, for the World Health Organisation (WHO), in response to questions about the situation in China, said that the WHO Beijing office was in touch with the authorities and continued to receive information from the health officials. Serological tests were being developed and they would give a more precise vision of the status of infections in this and other countries.

As for Sweden, WHO continued to consider that each country should put in place the strategy that was best adapted to the local situation. WHO continued to consider that a combined approach was the most appropriate, with rapid detection of cases, as well as testing and treatment, with the aim of finding the virus early to contain the spread. It was important to slow down the progression of the virus by adopting the physical distancing measures and avoiding large gatherings of people.

The main drivers of the virus transmission were the symptomatic people and they should not have contact with others, Mr. Jašarević said in response to another question. Different countries had in place different procedures and instructions for symptomatic people. The transmission started just before the apparition of symptoms, thus it was important for people to follow the instruction, and either test or self-isolate.

Asked to comment on the statement by WHO’s Mike Ryan, who had stated that evidence showed that wearing masks could be a hindrance and a detriment, rather than bring a benefit, Mr. Jašarević said that the WHO guidance for the wearing of masks was clear: wearing them was not required for healthy people, while the people who were not healthy and those who were caring for sick people at home should wear masks. Masks could not provide protection by themselves, and furthermore, wearing masks could give a false sense of security and make people forget about other preventive measures such as washing hands or not touching faces.

On serological essays, Mr. Jašarević said that those were looking for antibodies to understand who had been infected in the past in order to learn about the prevalence of the disease. A number of serological tests were being developed and WHO would like for them to be independently evaluated.

On 30 March, WHO had issued guidance to help countries to maintain essential health services in the time of COVID-19, which had put the health systems under tremendous pressure. It advised the countries how to prioritize and maintain basic health services, such as immunization and care for pregnant women.

In response to a question about the number of children diagnosed with COVID-19, Marixie Mercado, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that there was no systematic global reporting on the impact of COVID-19 on children. The virus impacted children in many ways, for example, schools were closed while some parents were at work, and the stress on the health system would certainly impact other services provided to children.

Mr. Jašarević added that children and young adults were being infected, but at a lower rate than adults and with milder symptoms. Children were indeed impacted by the epidemics in many ways - mental health, anxiety, and access to basic health services – which showed that the impact of COVID-19 on societies went beyond epidemiology.

COVID-19 and other illnesses: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Simon Ingram, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), announced the launch of a report on the very damaging effects that the 20-month long Ebola outbreak was having on the country’s already weak and under-resourced health care services, and its impact on children. The coronavirus was now adding to the strain on those same health services, exposing the same weaknesses, potentially in an even more profound way. The public healthcare system had been powerless to prevent the world’s worst measles epidemic in 2019, which had killed more than 5,300 children under the age of five, and powerless to prevent some 31,000 cases of cholera, many among young children.

Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF Representative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said that this day marked the forty-second day since the last Ebola case had been diagnosed in the country. To date, 98 cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed, including eight deaths, with a case-fatality rate of nearly 10 per cent. COVID-19 would most likely divert the available national health capacity and resources and leave millions of children affected by measles, malaria, polio and many other killer diseases. In response to the fast-evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in line with the Congolese Government COVID-19 Response Plan, UNICEF required $58 million to contribute to outbreak control and the mitigation of the collateral impacts of the pandemic, including the support for the continuity of essential social services for children and women.

Asked about cholera and measles in the country, Mr. Beigbeder said that the COVID-19 epidemic would expose the weaknesses in the country’s health system. Cholera was present in six eastern provinces and the Government was reviewing the plan for the elimination of this disease. In 2018, only 35 per cent of the children had been fully vaccinated and 20 per cent

had not been vaccinated at all. There were huge differences between provinces, for example in North Kivu the vaccination rate was 80 per cent and in Maniema it was only 8 per cent.

UNICEF had launched a communication campaign to inform the population about the COVID-19 and to promote the prevention and protection measures. In this vast country, it was a race against time. Kinshasa was already affected and every day, new cases were being reported in other provinces. Mr. Beigbeder stressed the need to increase the financing for the health sector and noted that only 12 per cent of the humanitarian appeal for the country had been funded.

Annoucements

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, said that at 12 p.m. (New York time) today, 31 March, the Secretary-General of the United Nations would launch the report entitled "Shared responsibility, global solidarity: Responding to the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19". The virtual launch could be seen live on webtv.un.org.

Sarah Bell, for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), announced a virtual press conference at 1 p.m. today, 31 March, which would highlight the devastating impact of the COVID-19 on developing countries’ economies. More.

Clare Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), announced a virtual press conference via Zoom on 1 April at 11 a.m. on the impact of COVID-19 on the gathering of meteorological data.

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The webcast for this briefing is available here: https://bit.ly/unog310320