In the Andean nation, which has so far recorded over 203,000 deaths out of a population of fewer than 33 million people, or more than 6 deaths per thousand inhabitants, the "Covid orphans" are now over 100,000.
In this regard, the story of Gabriela Zarate's family, told a few days ago by the BBC, is emblematic. Gabriela lives in a small house on the outskirts of Lima with her husband and eight children. Four are hers and another four of her younger sister, Katherine, who died of Covid-19 last June, because the hospitals in the capital of Peru were all full and without even an oxygen cylinder, too expensive for the Zarate family's precarious finances.
Fr Manolo Cayo, Provincial of the Salesians in the Andean country, told VITA about the situation in the country. “With the Don Bosco Foundation of Peru,” continues Fr Cayo, “we worked together with the Peruvian Church in the campaign to ensure oxygen and with the Food Bank for the food emergency. We have carried out direct intervention campaigns in more than 90 soup kitchens.” Furthermore, “we have been guaranteeing digital access to school for the poorest adolescents and young people for almost two years, given that in Peru there has been no schooling since March 2020 and only now, finally, there is talk of a return at the end of March of this year. This lack of school attendance is a serious problem that adds to the terrible number of orphans caused by Covid.”
“The serious situation of Peruvian children in relation to the Covid-19 crisis is unprecedented,” says Corrado Scropetta, representative of the NGO ‘WeWorld’ in Peru. “Even before Covid-19, grandparents also took care of many minors, especially in cases of early pregnancies. Now many have also lost this familiar figure. In the tragic nature of what this phenomenon entails on a social and psychological level, the economic aspect should not be underestimated, given that these boys and girls have also lost all forms of sustenance ...”
For Roberto Vignola, Deputy Director General of the Cesvi Foundation, “to pay the highest price due to the Covid-19 pandemic in Peru were precisely the children and young people who lost parents or relatives who looked after them and for this very reason they often fail more to feed themselves regularly, they have had to drop out of school to support themselves, they live in a situation of mental distress and are increasingly exposed to the risk of exploitation, including sexual exploitation.”
Finally, Peruvian social workers believe that the impact of the pandemic on children has been overlooked since they are usually less affected than adults by the disease, even though more than 1,500 Peruvian children have already died from Covid-19.
