Peru giving up on virus measures in face of sinking economy

LIMA, Peru (AP) — On the same day that the Peruvian government announced another grim increase in the number of coronavirus infections, thousands of people packed together in hourslong lines outside shopping malls for a chance to buy a new sweater, sneakers or computer.

Peru — which has reported the world’s sixth-highest number of cases in a population of just 32 million — has decided to ignore scientific warnings and opened many of the country’s largest shopping malls this week. The government had been following international advice on fighting COVID-19 — enforcing a strict stay-at-home order for three months — but the measures failed to prevent one of the world’s worst outbreaks, and the country now faces one of the region’s deepest recessions on top of rising death rates.

The official unemployment rate sits at 13%, and one university study estimates that the country will lose 4.2 million jobs by the end of the year — figures that don't even capture the large part of the economy that is informal.

Thousands of community-run soup kitchens have popped up, providing cheap meals for neighbors who pool resources because they can no longer afford to feed themselves on their own.

“It's hard, and sad, when you have kids and there's no food,'' Yeni Anco, a 46-year-old mother of seven, whose husband sells face masks on the streets of Lima. "A bigger kid can take it, but a little one can't.''

So now, Peru is prioritizing commerce over public health, and hoping for the best. Reopening malls is the largest step the government has taken so far, but by June 30, all anti-virus measures will be removed.

With 402 stores, including H&M and Zara, the Lima MegaPlaza has a normal capacity of 30,000 people. Management was limiting shoppers to half that number under government orders this week — but the result...