More than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, some countries are now experiencing devastating second, third, and fourth waves of the virus. While the quick development of vaccines is positive news, COVID-19 remains an ongoing crisis and its effects will still be seen for years to come. Here are some examples of how Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies continue to provide support.
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Most Canadian Red Cross international emergency health clinic deployments last four weeks. In fall 2020, however, Garry Enns of Manitoba was the first Canadian Red Cross humanitarian worker to support the clinic from start to finish.
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, as information began to flow into Canada about how serious this disease might become, Alberta Health Services started ramping up their testing capacity. Some 10,000 kilometres away in Southeast Asia, the Philippine Red Cross took notice.
The Red Cross field hospital in Mozambique has opened a specialized malaria treatment centre to support people affected by Cyclone Idai. This is in addition to the existing cholera treatment unit that has been operating at the Nhamatanda rural hospital since early April.
Getting a field hospital from Canada to Nhamatanda in Mozambique on the east coast of Africa is no simple task. Few people understand this challenge better than Garth Tohms, a Canadian Red Cross logistics aid worker.
A generator delivered in a wheelbarrow is just one of the pieces of equipment that recently helped save the life of a mother and baby during a power outage at Nhamatanda hospital in central Mozambique.
Thanks to the generosity of the government of Canada and Canadians donating to the Cyclone Idai appeal, Canadian Red Cross has sent its emergency field hospital to Mozambique. The hospital will be staffed by 25 Canadian aid workers, including doctors, nurses and technicians. They will help alleviate the tremendous strain that has been placed on local services and health professionals who have been working non-stop to provide urgent care.
For the last ten years, armed conflicts and violence has caused an unprecedented level of human suffering in places like Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. The Red Cross and Red Crescent is on the ground, providing impartial and life-saving aid to those who are caught in these conflicts - including surgical care.