On January 27th, the Peruvian government announced a new tiered approach to increased inmovilizaciones sociales obligatorias throughout the country. The new measures (see graphics above) will take effect on Sunday, 31 January and are scheduled to last until 14 February. What these measures will mean for the areas designated as “extreme level” is a return to many of the quarantine restrictions of early 2020. We are working with our team on the ground to appropriately plan with the communities and people we serve to have access to the food, medications, and resources they will need throughout the expanded quarantine. We will keep you posted to changes and updates.

The U.S. inaugurated a new president, and Perú finds itself struggling to come to terms with a second wave of COVID infections. In spite of a forecasted second wave of SARS-CoV-2 infections for past 3-4 months, Perú is in the midst of rapidly escalating cases and a faltering healthcare infrastructure. Starting on Tuesday, 19 January the union representing all the physicians working at EsSalud run hospitals and clinics are around Perú, announced that doctors will be going on a hunger strike to protest the lack of government investment in responding to the pandemic. Perú, like a number of other Latin American countries, were devastated by the first wave of the virus in early 2020. The second wave is forecasted to have equally damaging impact on communities and healthcare infrastructure. With much of the world moving toward the first phase of vaccination, Perú lags behind due to a number of complex issues. The Perú government is currently in negotiations to purchase 1 million doses from the Chinese pharmaceutical company, SinoPharm. Its hard to imagine these 1-million does will have much impact in a county of over 32-million with with expanding social, economic and infrastructure challenges.