COVID-19 and African Immigrants in North Africa: A Hidden Pandemic in a Vulnerable Setting

Date

2020-10

Type

Article

Journal title

Author(s)

Daw MA, Ahmed MO, ET AL.

Abstract

Since being declared a pandemic in March 2020, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes the disease known as coronavirus disease (COVID-19), has brought difficult situations for citizens of nations worldwide. The effects, however, may be more severe for vulnerable communities, such as immigrants, who are already in desperate situations and under deteriorating conditions. There are still very limited data on how the pandemic is impacting migrant communities. Immigrant camps foster an environment that poses a great threat to the health of their inhabitants, especially at the time of a pandemic. Overcrowding, poor sanitation, inadequate health care, and difficulty containing contagious diseases are well documented in African immigration detention centers. Furthermore, they are unlikely to take priority in a moment in which governments are mobilizing all resources to care for their citizens. Their situation is even more complicated if they are hosted in corridors plagued by war, as in North Africa

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