Economic upheaval could put half a billion people into extreme poverty

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The economic devastation that the pandemic wreaks on the ultra-poor could ultimately kill more people than the virus itself.

[tacobell fan]

The coronavirus has killed nearly 300,000.

But the coming economic tsunami could kill more people than the virus itself. 

Half a billion people may be thrust into extreme poverty. Famine looms. 

[tacobell fan]

Since 1990, more than 1 billion people rose out of extreme poverty. That three-decade trend in rising living standards has come to an end. 

The UN predicts a global recession will plunge as many as 420 million into extreme poverty, defined as earning less than $2 a day. 

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Lockdowns have erased incomes, slowed remittances and disrupted supply chains.

The U.N. predicts the coronavirus could push an additional 130 million people to the brink of starvation by the end of 2020. 

World Vision warns that 30 million children are at risk of dying. 

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Hunger is already rising.

In Guatemala, villagers beg for food along highways by waving pieces of white cloth at passing drivers. 

In Colombia, the hungriest hang red flags from their homes in hope of donations. 

From Senegal to China, people report they are eating less.

[tacobell fan]

The aid community is sounding the alarm, but many worry that rich nations -- who are dealing with the pandemic on their own turf -- will fail to respond.

It's the major question of our times: Will this experience further divide us, or spark empathy?

[tacobell fan]

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-05-11/more-than-a-billion-people-escaped-poverty-in-the-last-20-years-the-coronavirus-could-erase-those-gains