The impact of COVID-19 on the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God is currently primarily focused on the Americas, especially South America, according to Brother JesĂșs Etayo, Superior General of the Order, in his latest statement, issued on July 31. âSome Houses have gone through or are going through difficult times. Specifically, in our Works in Latin America, the latest data we have is as follows: 330 infected collaborators, one of whom has died; 779 patients have tested positive for coronavirus (with 21 deaths); and three Brothers of Saint John of God have tested positive, one of whom is hospitalized.â
Regarding the Institution's global data since the pandemic began, 51 religious workers have been infected, five of whom have died (four of whom were elderly in Spain), and 43 have already recovered successfully. In addition, more than 1,000 workers have tested positive for COVID-19, with three of them dying.
Regarding the number of people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus who have been admitted to San Juan de Dios hospitals, or who have tested positive in residential and social centers, "it is difficult to calculate the exact number," says JesĂșs Etayo, although the Order estimates that around 5,000 patients with COVID-19 have been treated, of whom around 500 have died.
San Rafael Hospital in Pasto, Colombia, joined the health promotion campaign for the INFLUENZA vaccine promoted by the Municipal Health Secretariat for healthcare personnel in July 2020.Â
Currently, the Hospitaller Order is present in 52 countries on five continents, serving more than 3 million people each year in the hospital, social, mental health, disability, and elderly care sectors. With a total of 403 Apostolic Works, of which 387 are social or healthcare centers, the Institution has 1,025 Brothers of Saint John of God, 63,000 staff, and more than 23,000 volunteers, of whom nearly 4,000 are in Spain.
In our country, San Juan de Dios has a network of 75 centers and 15,000 staff, serving nearly 1,400,000 people each year. It also has 3,521 healthcare students and at least 54 research groups. The institution is also dedicated to teaching and research.
A doctor from the San Juan de Dios Hospital in CĂłrdoba (Spain).
As in other countries, in Spain the Hospitaller Order has adapted to the new situation imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing from the outset on maintaining social and healthcare services in its various centers and addressing the coronavirus, in coordination with the health authorities. All this is thanks to the commitment of the Brothers and the people who work alongside them, who have given their all during these difficult times. In total, the Order estimates that it has treated nearly 1,500 people with COVID-19 in Spain.
According to the World Health Organization's August 12, 2020, report, there are 20,162,474 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection worldwide, more than half of which are in the Americas, where the most affected countries are the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, and Chile. In Asia, India has the highest number of cases; and in Europe, Spain, followed by the United Kingdom, are the countries currently reporting the worst data.
The impact of COVID-19 is already being felt in every country, testing healthcare systems around the world, as well as the economy and social systems, with profound consequences that will last for years to come.
According to the World Economic Prospects published by the World Bank in June 2020, âWhile the final outcome is still uncertain, the pandemic will cause the vast majority of emerging market and developing economies to contract,â estimating that this could push 100 million people into extreme poverty in a downside scenario. This, according to the World Bank, ârepresents the first increase in global extreme poverty since 1998, effectively erasing the progress made since 2017.â
SJD Clinic Laboratory in Amrahia, Ghana.
Therefore, hospitality remains a fundamental value, as well as international cooperation for development, which the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God carries out through its organization Juan Ciudad ONGD (www.juanciudad.org). The Stop COVID-19 campaign is currently active, raising funds to support centers in Africa and Latin America so they can remain open and continue serving thousands of vulnerable people, while also continuing to contribute to the global fight against the coronavirus.
Before the arrival of the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, we already faced significant challenges, largely summarized in the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda. Now it's our turn to continue moving toward a world without inequality, taking care of the planet we live on, and maintaining prevention and control measures to reduce COVID-19 cases.
By Adriana Castro TerĂĄn, Communications Manager at the Juan Ciudad Foundation
Photos: Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God
For more information on the Hospitaller Order's activities in Spain and around the world, please visit:
Baetica Province. https://www.sjd.es/
Province of Castile. https://hsjd.es/
Province of Aragon. https://www.ohsjd.es/
General Curia of Rome. https://www.ohsjd.org/
San Juan de Dios Centers in Spain: https://www.sjd.es/centros/
The sources used in this article are:
https://www.ohsjd.org/Objects/Pagina.asp?ID=12615&Titolo=Covid-19
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/85320e2ea5424dfaaa75ae62e5c06e61
https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/brief/projected-poverty-impacts-of-COVID-19
