Covid-19 in peru: State and social responses

Abstract

Despite efforts by the Peruvian state to contain the outbreak and spread of covid-19, including a strict nationwide quarantine for more than one hundred days, Peru had one of the highest numbers of cases and deaths in the world due to the pandemic. The pandemic highlighted the precariousness of the health care system, work, living conditions and transport. The pandemic also demonstrated that until underlying problems in the country’s social and economic system are solved (such as inequality and poverty), the health sector can do little to combat a health care crisis. This article analyzes state and societal responses to the pandemic between February and August 2020.