COVID-19 in Latin America: A High Toll on Lives and Livelihoods

June 11, 2021

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Bas B. Bakker, and Carlos Goncalves. COVID-19 in Latin America: A High Toll on Lives and Livelihoods, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2021) accessed November 21, 2024

Disclaimer: IMF Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to encourage debate. The views expressed in IMF Working Papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.

Summary

Latin America was hit hard by Covid-19, both in terms of lives and livelihoods. Early lockdowns in the second quarter of 2020 prevented an explosion of deaths at the time but did not stop the pandemic from later wreaking havoc in the region. This paper investigates the dynamics of pandemics in Latin America and how it differed from elsewhere. We probe the role of non-pharmaceutical interventions; the effectiveness (or lack of thereof) lock-downs in Latin America; which structural factors contributed to the high death toll in Latin America, and the extent to which the epidemic harmed the economy. Finally, we briefly analyze the roots of the second-waves that started in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Subject: COVID-19, Health, Population and demographics

Keywords: Asia and Pacific, Caribbean, COVID-19, Dynamics of Covid-19 epidemic, Europe, Later lockdown, Lockdowns in Latin America, Lock-downs in Latin America, Modeling lockdown type, South America, Western Europe

Publication Details

Pages:

60
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Working Paper No. 2021/168
Stock No:

WPIEA2021168
ISBN:

9781513573434
ISSN:

1018-5941

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