NEW YORK — As the COVID-19 pandemic drags on, the inevitability of a new humanitarian emergency — be it a destructive hurricane or an explosion like the recent one in Beirut — persists.
Though some government lockdowns have eased, travel restrictions and health concerns for emergency responders and beneficiary communities remain. International humanitarian organizations say that they will still be able to respond quickly to an emergency in the era of COVID-19 but that response plans are shifting, relying more on local and regional partners and the increased use of remote work.
“We know that we're living in a pandemic, and that changes the ways that we work. But it doesn't change the work that we do,” said Erynn Carter, senior director for humanitarian response at Mercy Corps. “We continue to plan to respond to a big disaster even in COVID. That will look really different. There might not be so many international staff on airplanes flying to various locations.”