ABSTRACT: As the whole world reels under the impact of the unprecedented health crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been little attention on its effect on grassroots communities and marginalized sectors. This is particularly important given the haphazard and erratic manner of official measures to contain the contagion which are being implemented in a situation where health systems face serious challenges in terms of readiness to confront a crisis of this proportions. While national reports are extensively documented and macro numbers are often reported, there is a need to look more closely at underprivileged sectors and communities. This preliminary report documents what marginalized communities in Southeast Asia are engaging in and how they respond to the pandemic. Results are varied, conditioned on the location, existence of community and sectoral organizations, and levels of social solidarity and collective consciousness.
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