PAHO Director announce COVID-19 surges in Americas

Caribbean: “Coronavirus infections continue to rise throughout the Americas,” with more than 1.3 million new COVID-19 cases and 37,000 deaths recorded in the country in the last week while Covid-19 cases rise in nearly every nation in South America- Pan American Health Organization Director Carissa F. Etienne announced yesterday.

“In regions of Bolivia and Colombia, cases have grown in the last week, and all four nations in the Southern Cone have been encountering an acceleration in coronavirus cases, with continuous community transmission in recent weeks,” Dr Etienne announced during her weekly media addressing.

Noting that more -than half of all global demise recorded over the last week were found in the Americas, she stated this is “a sober warning of the human toll of this coronavirus pandemic.”

“Driving down diseases starts by staying home and doing everything we can to protect us and others from getting sick,” Dr Etienne proceeded. 

“And yet, we recognise that residents in the area slowly and steadily built their flow over time, even when public-health and social measures were in place during this COVID-19 pandemic.”

If the raises in travel trends within and between nations continue, “our health practices will be in deeper trouble,” she said. “Regardless of pandemic fatigue, we cannot facilitate public health and social interventions without good data and support. Our actions must follow our reality.”

Dr Etienne announced the region’s epidemiological situation is uneven, with infections rising in some places and falling in others. “In North America, cases and hospitalizations are ascending in Canada, while infection clips are slowing down in the U.S. and Mexico,” she remarked.

She stated that over the last week, the U.S., Brazil, and Argentina were among the ten nations registering the highest number of new diseases worldwide. Other countries weren’t far behind. “But nowhere are diseases as worrisome as in South America, where cases are ascending in nearly every nation,” Dr Etienne stated.

World Health Day is “a day where we reflect on the greatness of health and our promise to achieve well-being for all,” she continued. “With its theme of- ‘Together for a fairer, -healthier world,’ there is no better bit to talk about the need for immediate change.” 

Noting that inoculations continue in the Americas, she stated that more than 210 million jabs of COVID vaccines had been administered across 49 nations and territories in the Americas. PAHO’s Revolving Fund has given more than 2.6 million COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX tool to 26 nations, and more doses are making their way to the Caribbean.

While we as people have all been affected by this Covid-19 pandemic, we have not been impacted somewhat,” Dr Etienne said. “To fight COVID-19 efficiently, we must address these inequalities and help the most vulnerable as they struggle to shield themselves.”

Click here for more news