Gendered impact of the 2019&ndash;20 coronavirus pandemic

Gendered impact of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic

Coronavirus disease 2019 is known to affect both men and women, but the impact of the pandemic and mortality rates are different for men and women. Mortality due to COVID-19 is higher in men in studies conducted in China and Italy. A higher percentage of health workers, particularly nurses, are women, and they have a higher chance of being exposed to the virus. School closures, lockdowns and reduced access to healthcare following the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic may differentially affect the genders and possibly exaggerate the existing gender disparity.
Gender differences in mortality
As of April 2020, men die more often than women after being affected with COVID-19 infection. As of April 2020, the US government is not tracking sex-related data of COVID-19 infections. Research has shown that viral illnesses like Ebola, HIV, influenza and SARS affect men and women differently.
Women as caretakers
Evidence from past disease outbreaks show that women are more likely to be caregivers for the sick individuals in the family, making them more vulnerable to infection. A majority of healthcare workers, particularly nurses, are women. They are on the frontline to combat the disease, which makes women vulnerable to exposure. 90% of the healthcare workers in China's Hubei province (where the disease originated) were women and 78% of the healthcare workers in USA are women. The physiological changes in pregnancy puts women at an increased risk for some infections, although evidence is lacking particularly about COVID-19. Women had a higher risk of developing severe illness when affected with influenza virus (which belongs to the same family as COVID-19), so it is important to protect pregnant women from being infected with COVID-19. Women nurses were reported to have decreased access to tampons and sanitary pads while also working overtime without adequate personal protective equipment during the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic in mainland China. In addition, access to abortion was severely restricted in areas of the United States.
Abortion policies
The government of Argentina was planning to submit a bill to the Congress to grant abortion rights to women in March, after the official announcement of president Alberto Fernández in his speech opening the Congress sessions on March, 1. However, the submission of the bill was postponed due to the coronavirus crisis and the lock down of the country. Provision of abortion services under the current law is still being granted in the country, albeit with challenges due to some provinces that have historically opposed abortion. The Ministry of Women of Argentina is working to facilitate abortion through the establishment of a helpline that women can call to obtain information.
Clinical trials
Women are underrepresented in clinical trials for vaccines and drugs, as a result of which sex-differences in disease response could be ignored in scientific studies. According to ThinkGlobalHealth, "equality issues are only meaningfully integrated into emergency responses when women and marginalized groups are able to participate in decision-making".
Socio-economic impact
Women constitute a larger part of informal and part-time workers around the world. During periods of uncertainty, such as during a pandemic, women are at a greater risk of being unemployed and being unable to return to work after the pandemic is over.
Domestic workers
Domestic workers is largely dominated by women and has important levels of informality. In particular, migrant domestic workers are in a more vulnerable situation, with unclear immigration status and lack of legal protection. In situations where those migrant domestic workers come from less-developed countries, their families back home are dependent of their remittance to survive in the country of origin of the worker. In Philippines, those remittances account for 9% of their GDP, therefore impacting their country of origin's economy. In Argentina, they have established a unique-payment for all domestic workers, and childcare and elderly care is deemed an essential activity so they are allowed to circulate even with the lock down.
Increase in unpaid care work
Activities of care rely heavily on women. The isolation and lock down measures will increase the inequality of the care work, burdening women more than men, including looking after children, elderly and sick members of the family.
Gender based violence
Due to increased tension in the household during a pandemic, women and girls are likely to experience higher risk of intimate partner violence and other forms of domestic violence. In Kosovo, there has been a 17% increase in gender based violence during the pandemic. During periods of lockdown, women experiencing domestic violence have limited access to protective services. In the Netherlands, the number of calls to child abuse centers rose by 76% in February 2020 compared to the previous year.

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