The Indigenous Peoples in time of a global pandemic

Abstract

The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic poses a grave threat to Indigenous Peoples (IPs) around the world. In a recent correspondence, the author explores the vulnerabilities at the local level during COVID-19. IPs experience a high degree of socio-economic marginalization and are at disproportionate risk in public health emergencies, becoming even more vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic, owing to factors such as their lack of access to effective monitoring and early-warning systems, and adequate health and social services. This correspondence calls for a 'multisectoral strategy of intervention' and a 'preferential option for the indigenous peoples' during this global pandemic.