Abstract
During phase 2 of the COVID-19 pandemic in a Mexican City, informal street vendors (cases) and formal employees (controls) were interviewed. A total of 82.6% of street vendors preferred to expose themselves to the coronavirus than to stop working, compared with 18.4% of formal employees (adjusted OR = 19.4, 95%CI: 4.6-81.7, p < 0.001). Street vendors had 7 times less fear of dying from coronavirus (adjusted OR = 0.14, 95% CI: 0.03-0.5, p = 0.005) and showed a 16-times greater lack of real concern for the increase in cases in their community than the formal employees (adjusted OR = 0.06, 95% CI: 0.01-0.3, p = 0.002). Street vendors were the group with the poorest adherence to household and work area containment measures that continued to be in contact with others. The corresponding authorities must plan specific strategies that allow street vendors to survive economically, while at the same time, protecting community health.
Highlights
COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by a new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), is a pandemic that is a worldwide emergency, affecting human health and the global economy
A total of 82.6% of the street vendors interviewed preferred being exposed to coronavirus to not working, compared with only 18.4% of the formal employees, and 68.7% of the street vendors stated they would prefer to become infected with coronavirus than not to work, compared with only 14.0% of the formal employees
Street vendors had 7 times less fear of dying from coronavirus and showed a 16-times greater lack of real concern for the increase in cases in their community than the formal employees
Summary
COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by a new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), is a pandemic that is a worldwide emergency, affecting human health and the global economy. Increasing measures of physical distancing needed to contain the virus have resulted in reduced income-generating activities for formal and informal workers. Attitudes toward the COVID-19 pandemic in persons whose work is occasional, poorly paid, or unstable, such as street vendors, are often different from those of individuals with formal jobs [2]. Street vending is not a new occupation, but it has expanded tremendously in public spaces of cities of all sizes, especially in developing countries, given that it is an activity that proliferates following economic crises [3]. Knowing the perspective and attitudes of informal street vendors in the face of the pandemic, compared with those of persons with formal jobs, can be useful for planning pandemic containment strategies in different socioeconomic groups. The “StayHome” or “Don’tGoOut” media campaigns may not be useful for Delgado-Enciso et al – Informal street vendors and COVID-19
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