PAHO warns that new wave of Covid-19 in the Americas could be longer than prior ones

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The new wave of Covid-19 experienced by countries in the Americas could be more extensive than the preceding one, as is currently the case in Brazil, Uruguay, and Cuba. The main advice given the rapid surge in cases is to stay at home, the director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Wednesday.

Carissa Etienne stated that the region would experience a sharp increase in contagions, even in countries that managed to overcome the first wave, if adequate containment measures are not taken.

“Let me be clear on this. Without preventive actions, our region could face an even longer wave than the previous one,” said the head of the regional agency.

Etienne explained that the end of summer in the Southern Hemisphere, after the vacations when families and friends were reunited, produced a rise in contagions. Hence, she urged governments to be careful before relaxing restrictions on movement.

PAHO reported that more than 19.7 million cases of Covid and 475,000 deaths had been reported in the Americas, with at least one of the three variants of greatest concern identified in 32 countries and territories in the region.

The PAHO director expressed particular concern for Brazil, where the number of deaths and infections from Covid has skyrocketed, and reported that hospital intensive care bed occupancy rates exceed 80% in all but two of the country’s states.

Other agency experts emphasized that prevention measures were insufficient – and continue to be so – to prevent a more accelerated transmission of the disease, in addition to the P1 variant, which has spread throughout the South American nation and has put the rest of the region at risk.

The organization has identified at least one of the three most worrisome coronavirus variants in 32 countries and territories in the Americas. Moreover, Brazil’s Butantan Institute said Wednesday that it had found another mutation of the virus similar to the South African strain.

Regarding the vaccination process, PAHO said that 124 million people had been administered a dose of one of the Covid immunizers, and 58 million have completed the two doses in the region.

The COVAX alliance, which seeks to distribute vaccines to the most vulnerable nations, has already shipped a total of 2.5 million doses to the region in the last 30 days, and by next week every country in the Americas will have received at least one batch supplied under the scheme, said PAHO deputy director Jarbas Barbosa.

Vaccine supply “continues to be our greatest challenge,” Etienne admitted, calling on countries with surpluses to donate doses to nations in trouble.

Source: Infobae