David Malpass, the President of the World Bank Group, said last week the bank will require at least $70 billion a year to reduce COVID’s impact on poverty, according to Nairametrics.
“To put the financial challenge in perspective, consider the 100 million people we fear have already been pushed into extreme poverty by COVID-19. To provide them just $2 per day would cost $70 billion per year – that’s just to undo one part of COVID’s damage and well beyond the financial capacity of the World Bank Group or any other development agency,” he said.
Malpass has said the outbreak and global recession may cause over 1.4 percent of the world’s population to fall into extreme poverty.
More Lockdown, More Opioid Deaths
Beyond the financial devastation of the lockdowns, which have destroyed the businesses, lives, and livelihoods of hundreds of millions around the world, the COVID War has contributed to the increase in overdose deaths in 2020.
The Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program reported overdose deaths jumped 18 percent in March 2020 compared to March 2019. These deaths kept increasing in the following months, which included a 42 percent increase in May, the Washington Examiner reported.
The federal program compiles its data by collecting information from hospitals, police, and ambulance teams, the report said. It also noted the pandemic has created a new obstacle for those seeking treatment and dealing with the inherent stress the virus has caused in their lives.
Kenneth Leonard, Director of Clinical and Research Institute on Addictions at the University of Buffalo, told the Examiner, “Substance users are at higher risk for contracting COVID, and many have preexisting conditions that would make their prognosis worse.”
