The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

America is no longer the region with the highest rate of covid-19 infections, surpassed by Europe

2020-10-21T22:33:57.434Z


The Pan American Health Organization calls, however, to "not lower your guard" against the virusMedical personnel move the body of a deceased by covid-19 today at the General Hospital in Ciudad Juárez (Mexico) .LUIS TORRES / EFE The American continent registers almost 100,000 daily cases of covid-19, a "tremendous" number of infections that, however, has been surpassed by "the drastic resurgence" of the pandemic in Europe, as confirmed this Wednesday by Carissa Etienne, the Director of the


Medical personnel move the body of a deceased by covid-19 today at the General Hospital in Ciudad Juárez (Mexico) .LUIS TORRES / EFE

The American continent registers almost 100,000 daily cases of covid-19, a "tremendous" number of infections that, however, has been surpassed by "the drastic resurgence" of the pandemic in Europe, as confirmed this Wednesday by Carissa Etienne, the Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

The old continent suffers the ravages of the second wave, while the first wave has not yet finished on the other side of the Atlantic.

In both cases, PAHO calls not to lower our guard.

America remains the region with the most affected people in the world: accumulated cases are close to 19 million —the majority come from the United States, with seven million, and Brazil, with almost five— and the deaths are now more than 610,000.

But in recent weeks, Europe - which accumulates eight million positives - has set out to once again lead the growth of the coronavirus in the world.

Cases have increased by 34% and of the 10 countries that have registered the most infections in the last seven days, five are already European (France, Russia, Italy, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands).

The Pan-American organization uses the example of the new European peak to warn about what can happen when social distancing measures are relaxed and borders are opened.

“This second wave must be analyzed to try to prevent what is going to happen here and study the patterns of the virus resurgence.

But it is still premature, because our region is still occupied by the first wave ”, said its director.

PAHO's X-ray of the region indicates that the United States continues to see a steady rise in cases, that Canada is the only country that appears to have suffered the second wave for two weeks, and that cases have reached a plateau in Central America, with a rebound in the Caribbean.

The organization gives an example to Granada, which after opening its borders has just detected its first case of covid-19 after three months.

In Mexico, for example, after weeks of declining infections, an outbreak has been registered in eight states.

In the information session by videoconference organized by PAHO, Dr. Jarbas Barbosa recommended that these entities apply new measures, such as reducing mobility, to stop transmission as soon as possible.

Mexico is, along with the United States, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia, one of the countries on the continent where there are more than 100 deaths per day from coronavirus.

"Only yesterday more than 1,730 deaths were reported at the regional level," said Dr. Sylvain Aldighieri, who has warned of an increase in deaths in some countries.

“These revivals underscore that fighting this pandemic is not a one-time effort, it requires a continuous response, even in places where contagion is on the decline.

The pandemic is not over and the threat of new cases is still active everywhere, ”said the PAHO Director.

The organization has warned of the different dynamics between continents, since America is characterized by its "great socioeconomic disparities", which prevent many governments from guaranteeing that sanitary recommendations are met.

With an informal work rate that is around 60% in countries like Mexico, it is essential for the States to seek a balance between maintaining the economy and protecting health.

“We face challenges such as social inequality, fatigue due to the covid and the economic issue,” sums up Etienne.

To date, there are six American countries among the 10 that accumulate the most cases in the world: the United States and Brazil, which lead the ranking, and Argentina, Colombia, Peru and Mexico, which have each reported between 850,000 cases and one million.

"The countries must continue to control the virus while we wait for the arrival of a safe and effective vaccine," concluded the director of the Pan American Health Organization.



Source: elparis

All news articles on 2020-10-21

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.