Peru has the highest Covid-19 mortality rate in the world, and nearly 100,000 children have lost at least one parent or primary caregiver during the pandemic, the government said on Thursday.
“Unfortunately, there are almost 98,000 children in our country who have lost a father, mother or guardian in a pandemic,” said Anahi Duranda, Peru’s minister for women and the vulnerable, according to data published in The Lancet.
Peru has the highest Covid-19 death rate in the world in terms of population. The AFP news agency estimates that more than 6,000 Peruvians per million people have died from the virus.
The government currently pays more than 18,000 families a benefit of 200 Peruvian zł (€ 45) every other month, but Duranda hopes to extend the benefit to provide psychological and educational support to the population.
The minister hopes that more than 83,000 children and adolescents will be able to receive the benefit, but the current system lacks the necessary documents for many families to receive help.
“Many families come to us and want a pension, but they do not have a certificate confirming the death caused by Covid-19 – in the first and second waves of illness, people died at home, they cannot get such a certificate,” the minister explained.
The third wave of Covid-19 is raging in a country of 33 million people in South America, with more than two million cases.
In less than two years since the pandemic began, more than 202,900 Peruvians have died.
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