Like many countries, Coronavirus is not the only problem Peru is currently facing. With shortfalls in public infrastructure for water and sanitation, governmental policies harmful to the working class, and over 275,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, Peru is now suffering one of the worst impacts from Coronavirus in Latin America, right behind Brazil and Ecuador.

Peru confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on March 6, 2020, and is now at 279,419 confirmed infections, 9,317 deaths, and 167,998 recoveries. This information comes to show that the death rate from the virus in Peru is 3.33%, somewhat higher than WHO’s initial estimate of the global average death rate of 2.4%. In Latin America, Peru has the second highest number of cases, following Brazil.

Luckily, President Martín Vizcarra enacted the necessary measures on time. However, while following all the measures recommended by WHO regarding social distancing is extremely important, the Peruvian government has yet to take into consideration the realities that poor and marginalized communities face on a daily basis.

Peru has struggled with a critical water crisis over the past several years. Evidently, water is a crucial resource for fighting the pandemic, meaning that the lack of this resource positions millions of Peruvians at a much higher risk of catching and spreading the illness.

Out of the total population of 32 million people, 3 million do not have direct access to safe water in their homes, or even in community sources. Furthermore, 8 million have limited access to improved sanitation. Due to this situation, many people are forced to leave their homes — and sometimes even their villages — in order to find drinkable water.

Even though Peru’s quickly spreading urban population has its fair share of positive consequences, it is also one of many factors that has led to urban slums that have limited or no access to secure piped water sources. On top of this, communities in outlying areas of the Andes and Amazon have absolutely no access to treated drinking water, or a system of safe human waste disposal.

Some other elements contributing to the crisis have been the manufacturing industry’s years of misuse of water, a growing population, some improper agricultural practices, and of course, climate change. Also, there is a lot of inequality in the national distribution of water, starting off with the fact that even though over 55% of the country’s population lives on the coast, the homes in this area receive less than 2% of the fresh water supply.

Amidst the current health emergency, the Peruvian government has disregarded the need for a supply of safe water to the country’s most vulnerable communities. Numerous social movements and opposition parties have urged the government to transport clean water free of cost through water tankers to these at-risk regions, in order to insure universal access.

Additionally, in order to “protect the working class against the economic crisis”, the government announced a plan in early April to help companies affected by lockdown restrictions. However this plan will likely do more harm than good.

On April 5, President Vizcarra approved a legislative decree called “Reactiva Peru” (“Reactivate Peru”), a decree that wants to provide liquidity to several companies, whatever the size. Vizcarra goes on to explain that through this decree, the Ministry of Economy secures 30 billion soles (8.7 billion USD) in loans to companies, in order to “minimize the damage that social isolation has been causing to the economy.”

Vizcarra said that the financial aid will benefit over 350,000 companies, however it is extremely important to take into consideration the fact that 73% of Peru’s workforce has a job in the informal sector, depending on their daily incomes. This means that the majority of the population will not benefit from the governmental economic policies.

To put things in perspective, for those working in the informal sector a day at home means a day without an opportunity for subsistence. With this problem, the government sent out bonuses of approximately 120 USD to be paid twice to 3 million families. However, families in need of this support are well over 3 million, and 120 USD is simply not enough to cover their basic necessities.

Economist Oscar Dancourt has warned that the government does have the resources to reach more families in fast and massive ways, and if that it chooses not to do so, the entire strategy for containment of the virus could fail.

Yet again, the government failed to take into consideration the nation’s vulnerable population; this population is composed of those who have precarious jobs, migrants, homes that depend on a single salary, and of course, Indigenous/rural communities living in poor neighborhoods. The latter tends to live without basic necessities including safe drinking water, sewage systems, and medical security.

Link to donate to Peru’s water crisis:

https://water.org/donate/

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