Shortages in Venezuela after COVID-19 - Free Essay Example

Up to the late 1950s, Venezuela was one of the richest nations in Latin America. The country not only had one of the best per capita incomes, but it was also among the top five richest nations in the world. But the fall of crude oil prices in 2014 marked the beginning of social, economic as well as political challenges in Venezuela (Toraldo, 19). These challenges have had a great negative impact on the nation, especially with regard to its economy. As of 2019, Toraldo determined that the highest rates of inflation in the world were being experienced in the country. The relapse in the economy was also affecting other sectors, such as production and manufacturing (Toraldo, 19). In 2019's first quarter alone, more than 90 companies had laid down a huge percentage of their employees hence increasing the rates of poverty. Even though the conditions were bad in the nation initially, they were not as bad as they were during the COVID-19 period. People were poor, and they lacked basic needs at times, but during COVID-19, conditions in the country moved from bad to worse. Therefore, over the past few years, Venezuela has been suffering an economic crisis; but the current COVID-19 virus pandemic has led to increased shortages in production, food, and medicine.

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One of the major reasons why the virus has made things worse in the country is that it has resulted in an overstretch in the already weak health institutions. Before the disease, the country's healthcare sector was already on its knees. Hospitals lack even basic resources such as handwashing materials let alone drugs and testing kits (Burki, 547). At some point, the country had a special laboratory, but due to high cases of corruption, almost all the instruments and machines in the laboratory were looted (Burki, 547). Even though there were shortages, people managed to survive in the nation due to low numbers of people who were falling sick at any particular time. The low number of people was allowing medical personnel to use the available resources to manage their conditions hoping that by the time another group fell ill and sought help, the institutions would have received fresh supplies (Burki, 547). But during the COVID period, this has not been the case; a huge number of people have been falling sick at the same time. While at the hospital, each of these people also expects to be treated despite the shortage of medicines. The slow pace in Venezuelan hospitals, and the lack of medications, have also resulted in many fleeing the country ((Burki, 547). As of March 2020, more than 40,000 Venezuelans were crossing on foot to Colombia daily (Daniels, 1023). The International Rescue Committee also said that many of these migrants were not able to get even soups in a day, let alone work. Initially, conditions in Venezuelan health institutions were bad, but there were very few cases of individuals running away from the country primarily due to lack of medicine. Therefore, since this has been happening during the COVID period, it is proof enough that the disease has resulted in increased shortages of medicine.

Studies by Joe Parkin Daniels also determined that a huge number of Venezuelan doctors lacked the basic resources they needed to curb the spread of the virus. According to the study, only 25% of clinics and hospitals had running water (Daniels, 1023). Around 65% of the participants also reported that they lack elements such as goggles, masks, soap, and even masks (Daniels, 1023). 80% of healthcare personnel in Caracas also said that they did not have any protective gear. The hospital of Caracas is the largest hospital in the nation, and the fact that its personnel lacked simple things such as masks and soap, shows that COVID was instrumental in pushing it to the wall.

Furthermore, COVID has also resulted in many organizations and companies in the nation greatly reducing their workforce. According to WHO, people, as well as organizations, need to observe social distancing to curb the spread of COVID-19. Therefore, for companies to keep social distancing, many of them reduced their employee base. The International Rescue Committee also stated that many of its partner organizations had reduced the number of their workforce (Daniels, 1023). During the entire period, only a few of its partner organizations have managed to operate at full capacity (Daniels, 1023). A reduction in the number of workers has not only resulted in a decrease in production levels but has also resulted in vulnerable communities sinking deep into poverty. In Venezuela, more than 113 million individuals live in low-income regions. These people not only lived hand to mouth, but they also depended on their wages to make ends meet (Olivo, 1). With the eruption of COVID, communities were required to undergo lockdown; companies also reduced their employees, who were predominantly people from low-income regions (Olivo, 1). Therefore, production levels were significantly reduced and at the same time, families were also facing food shortages. There are two primary reasons why families have been facing increased food shortages during the virus period; one of them is that production level has reduced hence a shortage of supply. The other one is that many individuals were forced into unpaid leaves with their organization hence lack of disposable income to purchase food.

Some parties may argue that even though COVID-19 has affected the country, the situation is as bad as before. The same can be seen from the high number of people who had fled the country before corona became worse. As of 2019, more than 5 million individuals had fled the county. A bigger percentage of these people was ending up in Colombia hence stretching the resources in the county. Others also fled to countries such as the USA. Therefore, some people may argue that the high number of individuals who have fled the country since 2014 shows that the virus has not increased shortages in factors like production and medicine. These shortages were there; that is why many people were leaving the country to seek a better life elsewhere.

To prove these parties are wrong, a calculation needs to be done to determine the average number of people who left the country daily from 2014, when Venezuela started experiencing challenges, up to 2020 when coronavirus hit the country. Once the calculation has been done, the figure should be compared with the daily number of individuals who have been leaving the country during the coronavirus period. From 2014 to 2020, around 5 million individuals have left the country (Olivo, 1). From 2014 to 2020 is six years, which translates to 2190 calendar days. Therefore, 5 million divided by 2190 translates to around 2283 individuals.

On the other hand, Daniels determined that during the COVID-19 period, around 40,000 individuals have been leaving the country daily (Daniels, 1023). A huge percentage of this number has ended up in Colombia, and it reached a point where Colombia closed its borders due to risks of infections (Daniels, 1023). The simple calculation done above clearly shows that coronavirus has increased the shortages of several factors in the country. For six years, an average of 2283 individuals were leaving the nation daily. But from 2020, this number increased significantly to 40,000.

Conclusion

In conclusion, up to the late 50s, Venezuela was one of the richest countries in the world. The country generated most of its wealth from crude oil. However, in 2014, things began taking a turn for the worse. A fall in crude oil prices resulted in the nation experiencing numerous political, social as well as economic challenges. In turn, these challenges increased the level of both poverty and inflation. The country was undergoing tough times before; however, the eruption of the coronavirus resulted in things moving from bad to worse. Initially, Venezuelans lacked factors such as food and medicine, but the current COVID-19 virus pandemic has led to increased shortages in production, food, and medicine. One good example to illustrate this is the increase in the number of people who migrate from the country daily. Over the years, approximately 2283s individuals were fleeing the country. However, during the COVID period, about 40,000 individuals have been migrating from the country daily.

Work Cited

Burki, Talha. "COVID-19 in Latin America." The Lancet Infectious Diseases 20.5 (2020): 547-548.

Daniels, Joe Parkin. "Venezuelan migrants "struggling to survive" amid COVID-19." The Lancet 395.10229 (2020): 1023.

Olivo, Veronica Escobars.” COVID-19 and Venezuelan Refugees.” (2020).

Toraldo, Sara. "Venezuela on the Edge of Bankruptcy: Prospects for Political Change." Int'l J. Soc. Sci. Stud. 7 (2019): 19.