The global community must take urgent steps to prevent the coronavirus from gaining a foothold in conflict-hit countries and avoid its uncontrollable spread into prisons and refugee camps, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Monday
GENOA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th March, 2020) The global community must take urgent steps to prevent the coronavirus from gaining a foothold in conflict-hit countries and avoid its uncontrollable spread into prisons and refugee camps, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Monday.
"An immediate and concerted response by states and humanitarian organizations is vital. COVID-19 does not have to be catastrophic for war-torn countries with weakened healthcare systems, but it does require the international community to scale up support," the ICRC said.
According to the committee, Syria, Yemen, South Sudan, northeast Nigeria and Afghanistan will not be able to tackle a flood of COVID-19 cases "without a surge in support." War-stricken countries, it went on, can neither properly detect those infected nor ensure containment, as tracing and isolation are hardly possible when people have to flee their homes due to violence and live in displacement camps.
"COVID-19 represents a major threat to life in countries with strong health systems. But the threat is even greater in places where health systems have been ravaged by war, where people uprooted by conflict live in close proximity, and where life-saving resources like clean water, soap and medicine are in short supply," the ICRC added.
The Red Cross has asked for 800 million Swiss francs ($831 million)�in donations to help the most vulnerable countries amid the pandemic.
