ABSTRACT

During the Covid-19 pandemic, rich countries employed lockdown and physical distancing policies for transmission control. However, the question still remains whether these measures are also suitable in countries with a fragile economy, which rests mainly on the informal sector. The impacts of lockdown measures in disadvantaged population strata in six low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) were reviewed using i) 93 media reports and ii) 17 published scientific papers. This review showed that those who suffered the most from the lockdown were migrants, workers in the large informal sector, small businesses, slum dwellers, women and elderly, revealing the social, cultural and economic inequalities of societies. Financial and food support for the poor was inadequate and sometimes mismanaged. In the better organized societies, the resilience was stronger (South Korea, Kerala/India) but here also the poor had to suffer the most. It is strongly recommended that outbreak response strategies should particularly focus on the poor and vulnerable population.

摘要

在 Covid-19 大流行期间，富裕国家采用了封锁和物理距离政策来控制传播。然而，问题仍然是这些措施是否也适用于经济脆弱、主要依赖非正规部门的国家。使用 i) 93 篇媒体报道和 ii) 17 篇发表的科学论文审查了封锁措施对六个低收入和中等收入国家 (LMIC) 弱势群体的影响。这项审查显示，受封锁影响最严重的是移民、大型非正规部门的工人、小企业、贫民窟居民、妇女和老年人，这揭示了社会的社会、文化和经济不平等。对穷人的财政和粮食支持不足，有时管理不善。在组织较好的社会中，复原力更强（韩国、喀拉拉邦/印度），但穷人也遭受了最严重的痛苦。强烈建议疫情应对策略应特别关注贫困和弱势群体。