Latest update March 21st, 2025 7:03 AM
Latest News
PAHO flags South America for high COVID-19 death toll
– recommends tighter restrictions
A map showing COVID-19 infections and deaths in South America, Central America and the Caribbean. (Source: cepr.net)
Kaiteur The Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) has flagged South America for the alarming number of COVID-19 cases and deaths that are being recorded.
PAHO Director, Dr. Carissa F. Etienne
At a COVID-19 press briefing on Wednesday, PAHO’s Director, Dr. Carissa F. Etienne, stated that over the past week in the Americas, more than 1.4 million people were infected with the virus and 36,000 died. “In fact, one in four COVID deaths reported worldwide last week took place right here in the Americas,” she stressed. In addition, the Director noted that health systems especially those in South and Central America are struggling to cope, given the high influx of patients.
Generally, the Americas have been seeing high numbers of deaths and infections, but they are spiking across South America at an alarming rate. Etienne revealed that infections in Colombia will soon reach January levels where there was a significant spike and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds are running out in major metropolitan cities like Bogota and Medellin. Other South American countries reporting high rises in infections are Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Uruguay, according to the Director.
Notably, Brazil has been dominating South America in terms of COVID-19 cases and deaths and was named the epicentre of the pandemic. In early April, the World Health Organisation’s Epidemiologist, Maria van Kerkhove, told a briefing that in Brazil, ICUs are more than 90 percent full and it accounts for about a quarter of the daily COVID-19 deaths worldwide.
PAHO’s Director also alluded to the fact that since the beginning of 2021, several countries in the region have been reporting an increase in cases in the younger population (especially Brazil), which is linked to increased exposure to the virus and no vaccination eligibility for young age groups. “The hospital stay of these age groups is usually greater compared to those over the age of 60, so PAHO is orienting our countries to plan on coping with sudden increases in the consumption of critical inputs such as oxygen, intubation drugs, personal protective equipment, and infusion pumps,” she highlighted.
In endorsing the need for more stringent measures to curb the spread of the virus, PAHO’s Director acknowledged that many countries in the region have tightened public health measures by extending curfews, limiting re-openings and imposing new stay-at-home orders. “Of course, these decisions are never easy, but based on how infections are surging, this is exactly what needs to happen,” she posited.
As noted by Etienne, many countries in the region are tightening restrictions, however, Guyana is seeing an alarming increase in COVID-19 infections and deaths yet its gazetted measures remain the same. Health officials have constantly thrown out the idea of reintroducing the 06:00 pm to 06:00 am curfew, bars and other establishments have been permitted to reopen and patrons are failing to properly conduct themselves in keeping with the regulations when they are out.
On multiple occasions, it has been reported that the government will not tighten certain measures in a bid to balance the sustainability of businesses and public health. This leaves a fundamental question unanswered… will Guyana only follow suit when the pandemic has escalated beyond control?
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
“One Guyana” is no less a national slogan than “Green Guyana”
Kaieteur News- The notion that “One Guyana” is a partisan slogan is pure poppycock. It is a desperate fiction... more
If Guyana’s President Ali is the “Zelensky of the Caribbean”, who is the Putin?
Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the US and the OAS, Ronald Sanders By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- In the latest... more
Weekend Cartoon
