The Venezuelan government, the authorities, and those entrusted with the coordination are responsible for providing an adequate response to the coronavirus pandemic. Stigmatization will not get them rid of that responsibility, as it has been intended.

Stigmatization has been a major obstacle in the past to respond to crises of this nature. Instead of seeking support and being part of prevention, stigmatized people prefer to hide out of fear, despite the risks to their health and that of others.

Could they for once walk in the shoes of those who migrated in order to survive or help their families from abroad and now have seen their lives threatened again by the effects of the pandemic? Isn’t the suffering harsh enough?

Welcome back to Venezuela! This is how they should feel, welcomed and provided with adequate services to guarantee their rights to health and personal integrity, guided, informed, and treated with respect, facilitating their return to their places of origin.

The returnees are not “biological weapons” or “bioterrorists”, nor those who must go out every day to earn a living. The response should focus on people’s dignity and their specific vulnerabilities and needs.

Scientific evidence shows that the vast majority of people who contract the coronavirus will not get sick with COVID-19; rather, they will be asymptomatic or present mild or moderate symptoms. Even with more severe symptoms, death is not the only possible outcome.

Scientific evidence also shows that some conditions make some people more vulnerable to severe effects, such as previous health problems or the age of the patient.

At least 3 facts are evident regarding the coronavirus (CoV-2) in Venezuela: 1. The number of cases begins to grow rapidly, 2. It is imperative to take preventive measures, 3. More than 90% of the population cannot keep strict confinement because they live from day to day.

At least 3 basic measures are necessary for prevention, the 3 M to which @juliocastrom has referred: 1. Always wear a face mask, 2. Wash your hands several times a day, 3. Keep a minimum distance of five feet from other people.

As in any situation of this nature, which can affect the health and, in some cases, the lives of a large number of people, the main responsibility for an adequate response lies with the states and those with government functions. In this sense:

Face masks – State institutions must provide them to people with fewer resources and facilitate their access to the entire population, to comply with the recommendations.

Clean hands – State institutions must provide people with supplies such as antibacterial gels and soap, as well as guarantee regular water service so that they can comply with the recommendation of washing their hands frequently.

Maintain physical distance – It is essential to keep at least a five feet distance from other people in public transportation and other public places. Although this measure is an individual responsibility, public campaigns should be carried out to promote this and other healthy practices.

The state must provide all healthcare personnel, without exception, with the personal protective equipment (PPE) suitable for each type of intervention that must be carried out. Instead of criminalization and threats, their claims must be addressed.

The state must protect the health personnel from acts of violence. As cases increase and there is more pressure for attention and urgent responses, violence incidents could become even more frequent than has already been documented.

It is also the obligation of the state -ministry of health, national, regional, and local government- to provide people in vulnerable conditions with all the required supplies to prevent infections and facilitate their access to those who can acquire them.

It is the state’s obligation, through all its competent bodies, to facilitate access to food, cooking gas, transportation, water, and electric power service so that people can keep proper confinement and prevent contagion with the coronavirus.

Government authorities should not impose conditions that the majority of people in a vulnerable situation cannot comply with, much less try to divert their responsibility in handling the response by stigmatizing people and violating their rights.

Mitigating the severe effects of the humanitarian emergency, aggravated by CoV-2, requires the contribution of all national sectors, despite diminished capacities, as well as international cooperation. The vulnerable majorities must find us at their side…

…Keeping an eye to demand those in public office to fulfill their duties of protection, provision of adequate responses, guidance and information, confidence-building around the management of the pandemic, and immediately end the stigmatizing discourse.