The National Federation of Wood Industry Workers of Peru (FENATIMAP), an organization affiliated with the ICM, has reported the opening of a national training program for forest workers and technicians on the use of biosafety elements and attention protocols, as part of Peru’s preventive measures against COVID-19 in the wood sector. The trainings will be face-to-face, following health and safety protocols, and online, when physical presence is not necessary.
"Despite the seriousness of the situation, workers must be prepared for the reactivation of the forest industry, which is the main source of direct and indirect jobs and incomes in the region," said Rosita Sangama, FENATIMAP Secretary General.
FENATIMAP also reported that 16 workers and trade union leaders in the forestry sector died due to COVID-19. They were Manuel González, Carlos González Medina, Nehemiah Pinchi, Pinchi Geyser, Walter Arévalo, Laura Laulate and 10 other workers who were infected in native communities while working on extraction operations in the forest concessions.
FENATIMAP and BWI expressed their sadness and sympathies to the families of the workers who passed on.
As of 2 June, 10, Peru has 204,000 COVID-19 cases and 5,738 deaths. In Ucayali, in the Peruvian Amazon, there are 5,525 confirmed cases and 104 deaths. The health sector union reported that the country suffers from a shortage of medicines, rapid test kits, oxygen and respirators, which prevents its health system to capably responding to the health crisis.
