How do the main cities of Latin America and the Caribbean face the Covid-19?

In the face of the global coronavirus epidemic, city leaders face the immense challenge of controlling the spread of the virus in their localities, but in turn taking care to erode the local economic apparatus that could bring unemployment, recession and even more problems than the virus itself. Although the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) have been established as the usual practice in all cities, the mayors of the Latin American and Caribbean region are perceiving that the crisis requires even faster and more innovative solutions and It requires coordination with other levels of government, taking into account the limited resources that each city has, especially small and medium-sized ones.

The COVID-19 crisis has led to cities having to make decisions quickly and, often, with little information. They are in a state of experimentation, trying different measures that can be effective. Although leaders have little information, they can look at cities in Asia and Europe, where the virus was previously spread, and see what steps they have taken and apply locally to minimize the impact of the virus. In the same way, they can learn from ongoing experiences within Latin America and the Caribbean itself.

Given the speed of the spread of the virus, it is important to provide city leaders with access to relevant information on how to combat the spread of the virus in their city and some ideas on how to handle the multiple governance challenges in times of crisis. By collecting examples of tactics implemented by cities to combat the virus at the local level, the IDB Cities Network offers leaders in the region useful and easily accessible information that can assist in decision-making processes based on of their different realities. In addition to the measures highlighted below, we invite you to follow these two Twitter lists (municipalities and mayors) with first-hand information on the main cities of each country in Latin America and the Caribbean. The compilation presented on this blog, as well as on both Twitter lists, does not necessarily reflect an IDB Group position regarding the measures taken by each city.

BUENOS AIRES CITY, ARGENTINA. The management protocol against suspicious cases of COVID-19, established in conjunction with the National Government and the Government of the Province of Buenos Aires, defines the guidelines for active epidemiological surveillance, early detection of cases, prevention of spread taking isolation measures, and appropriate clinical management and monitoring. As of March 24, this protocol is in its twelfth edition, being available to everyone on the portal of the City of Buenos Aires.

MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY. The Municipality defined on March 20 a plan of financial relief measures with extensions of contribution payments to contribute to the reduction of fiscal pressure on the population of Montevideo. The measure applies to the following items: house taxes, house tax, car license, and taxes on commercial activities and services in public space.

BRAZIL, BRAZIL. In the context of the deficit in the supply of alcohol in gel, Health Surveillance carried out an operation to seize more than 1,100 counterfeit bottles in the Federal District, while its Health Secretariat received a donation of 425 liters of this medical product. Local health agencies are receiving donations from professionals and individuals of the container plastic used in the face of concern to ensure product stability through efficient fractionation and distribution, avoiding contamination.

ASUNCION, PARAGUAY. The Municipality's Office of Consumer Defense established a series of recommendations necessary to prevent contamination in the exhibition and sale of food in order to avoid the spread of COVID-19, including the need to package bulk products and avoid self-service. . The March 13 release mainly targets owners of food processing and sales locations.

SANTIAGO, CHILE. In the framework of the coronavirus contingency, the Municipality of Santiago launched on March 20 the "Virtual Showcase of Santiago Emprende", which aims to promote remote and online sales of entrepreneurs and SMEs in the municipality. In this way, it seeks to prevent people from leaving their homes to buy these products and thus boost the local economy. In addition, the Santiagoenlinea platform for procedures through the Internet is being strengthened.

LIMA PERU. Where to discard COVID-19? In the package of prevention and awareness actions launched by the Municipality of Lima to curb the coronavirus, 16 mobile clinics have been established in the north, center, south and east of the city, which have been supporting the taking of samples of suspected cases of this respiratory disease. Free examinations to detect patients with coronavirus are then analyzed by the National Institute of Health to make the corresponding diagnosis.

QUITO, ECUADOR. Solidarity is one of the axes that the Municipality of Quito is promoting in the containment of the coronavirus. On the one hand, a shelter was set up to welcome homeless people for the duration of the health emergency (March 20). On the other hand, 90 thousand food kits were delivered to the most needy people (March 24). In addition, a free psychological accompaniment service was enabled for COVID-19 positive patients, family members and citizens with anxiety crises due to social isolation (March 23).

BOGOTA COLOMBIA. After having decreed the yellow alert on March 11, the Bogota City Hall regulated the “Life Simulation,” for four days in quarantine (March 20-24). This sought to be a collective learning exercise to know how to act when joining the mandatory quarantine established by the National Government and thus mitigate the rapid reach of the new coronavirus COVID-19. Immediately, the results of the surveys carried out on the public were published to refine the processes.

PANAMA CITY, PANAMA. In order to cushion the economic effects caused by the coronavirus, the Mayor's Office bets on decentralized collaboration by giving the 26 Community Boards a seed capital of B /. 25,000 monthly to be used in their communities, only for food and medicine. Another preventive measure is that the vehicle plates will be sent free of charge to the homes of private applicants until June once the corresponding payment has been made through the Mayor's digital portal.

SAN JOSE COSTA RICA. In addition to adhering to national guidelines regarding the coronavirus, the Municipality of San José enabled the “I Hear You” service, whereby psychology professionals attend to the residents of the canton of San José free of charge by telephone or email in situations of anxiety and / or depression caused by the COVID-19 health emergency and its health, social and economic consequences.

TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS. After the arrival of the coronavirus, the Municipal Government of the Central District redoubles its efforts in cleaning and disinfecting public spaces, such as markets, and vehicles that are authorized to circulate during the nationally decreed curfew. Waste from local hospitals, where coronavirus cases are being treated, is also being incinerated in a special place in the landfill.

SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR. The Mayor of San Salvador has assigned an exclusive area of ​​a local cemetery in case of having fatalities due to the coronavirus outbreak. The graves, by arrangement, of the Institute of Legal Medicine must be two meters deep and must be in an isolated area. In addition, the capital's mayor's office set up temporary shelters for people who are under quarantine.

GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA. The Municipality of Guatemala installed its Operations Center for Municipal Emergency as part of its response protocols to care for and prevent the spread of the coronavirus. In addition, it conducted a series of trainings on how to prevent, identify and treat the virus to more than 10,000 workers from different areas, such as local security forces and transportation. In addition, the municipality launched a virtual school through YouTube.

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO. The Government of Mexico City has enabled a free service via text message with the word “covid19 ″ so that citizens can get their bearings, send directions and inform in case of presenting symptoms related to the coronavirus and thus avoid saturation of the numbers emergency and health phone numbers. In addition, it was decided to strengthen the procedures and payments online by suspending the realization of face-to-face procedures. Also, the deadlines for contrib payments were extended.

SANTO DOMINGO DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Within the package of measures taken for the prevention and containment of the coronavirus, the Mayor's Office of the National District established that the grocery businesses in the municipal markets will remain open only until 1:00 pm, reducing them 50% in the rent payment in support to merchants.