Uruguay & COVID: Small Country, Smaller Problems

Federico KG

Uruguay, capital Montevideo, is a small country sandwiched between the Goliaths of Argentina and Brazil. With a population just under 3.5 million and the pigeonholing smokescreen that any non-eurocentric country is hidden behind, its feats are often unrecognized on an international level.

The first case of COVID-19 in Uruguay was registered in March. Since then, cases rose but never spiked, and now there have been less than 1000 cases and under 30 deaths (less than 0.001% of the population). Though, with added precautions, things are starting to kick back into gear: restaurants are serving food, malls are open for business, school is back in session. It has become clear that Uruguay is leading the world in epidemic response. So how did Uruguay manage this feat?

Various factors have favored the control of viral spread:

First and foremost, as BBC stated, Uruguay has universal healthcare and access to potable water. This means that medical resources were available when necessary. The privilege of having access to freshwater entails a higher level of health, as sanitation (like washing your hands) becomes facilitated.

Another key factor in Uruguay’s ability to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 was the government’s agile pandemic response mixed with the fact that the virus arrived late to the country. By the time the pandemic struck, the government and the population were already largely informed. Most international borders had already been closed; the only way an infected person could have come was through the one international airport the country has. Essentially, all that there was to do was wait. 

The day the first case was reported, everything, including schools, closed immediately. The new president, Luis Lacalle Pou, quickly declared the country in a sanitary crisis and avidly promoted proper ways to be safe. A tracking system was implemented in which every affected person was asked who they spent time with in the past two weeks to prevent more viral transmission. Furthermore, though quarantine was not legally enforced, public consciousness was strong amidst the risks, and most chose to self isolate. Through social media, awareness was spread. What too many, myself included, seemed to be a smart way to lock in some cheap plane tickets turned into a serious disease that warranted caution. 

In addition, the pandemic was not approached through a politicized lens or imbued with a bias of any kind. The apolitical nature of the pandemic meant that there was no division within the population. Nobody doubted the presence of the virus and everybody knew the stakes, which were especially daunting considering that Uruguay has an aging population. There were no trivial protests or deniers, unlike in some other countries.  

The low population density was pivotal in keeping viral transmission at bay. Around half of the population resides in Montevideo, but even there the population density is rather low at around 35 people per km2. With such a low density, the likelihood of viral spread diminished due to the low agglomeration of possible vectors. Additionally, with most people self-isolating, most of the city seemed like a ghost town. From my house, I can see the Rambla, an important coastline avenue. Most of the time it was vacant, completely devoid of any cars or people. For many, this part of COVID-19 was exceptionally difficult, but I didn’t mind having limited physical human contact. My friends and I created a FaceTime group chat and would be on it throughout most of the day. Sometimes it felt like I saw them more than I did before. Now, with things opening up, It was weird to start seeing people again; a lot of us felt like we forgot how to properly socialize. I’ve also started to remember how much I love to people-watch when on the bus or walking outside.

Moreover, another inciting component in the regulation of the pandemic was patient zero’s background. The first case of COVID-19 in the country was brought by an affluent person returning from Italy. This person did not take precautions after their travels and went to a big wedding, infecting many others. This received a lot of backlashes, especially within the Gen Z demographic who birthed many (very good) memes/TikToks critiquing patient zero. Nonetheless, the infector, as well as the newly infected, was of an economically privileged background and could afford to pause their life and stay at their house.

Similarly, Uruguay has the largest middle-class proportion of any country in the Americas; many could stay home, afford hand sanitizer, masks, etc. Those who could stand to do this (mostly) did, and those who couldn’t went to work in an already alleviated environment. The pandemic struck fast on a Friday and the country seemed to turn off like a switch. Still, my life did not become clouded with intense economic worries or the effect that COVID-19 could have on my family, unlike others in my country. This is, of course, an experience that is intertwined with privilege. School continued online and my worries were mainly focused on adapting to the new course load and routine. My friend group dealt with our new modes of life differently. I had friends that started a daily Google Meets workout session that made me lightheaded when I tried it out; another fell in a productivity hole, feeling that they had to take advantage of all this extra time available; and then some friends and I kept busy drowning in homework and worrying whether or not we would get things done in time to graduate.

In synthesis, these unique sets of factors combined to create an effective response strategy that helped attenuate the impact of the pandemic on a national scale, but it is important to recognize that many of these elements were focused on one main idea: education and mindfulness as a way to navigate the world. Despite having natural causes that aided in the formation of a new normality that allows for a functioning economy and society, it is only through an informed community that the former was achieved. In the end, the state of Uruguay in terms of COVID-19 today was reached through a proactive community that anyone can replicate and uphold. Remember that though it’s more fun to see people in the flesh, most of us are lucky enough to have access to technology that allows us to be more interconnected than any other generation. We are living in the age of globalization after all! A word of advice is to just be responsible and, amidst all of this uncertainty (which I definitely have felt and worried about), hold onto what you have, but try not to be afraid to move on and adapt to new things. Don’t forget to use masks, minimize contact with others, wash your hands often, and, please, never forget the impact that one person -you- has.