BRASÍLIA (Reuters) – New cases of COVID-19 continue to decline in North America, but infections in Latin America are still increasing, especially in Brazil, where a resurgence has caused record daily deaths, the Pan American Health Organization warned ( PAHO) this Wednesday.
“We are concerned with the situation in Brazil. It provides a sobering reminder of the threat of resurgence: areas hard hit by the virus in the past are still vulnerable to infection today, ”said PAHO Director Carissa Etienne at a briefing.
She said that cases are increasing in almost all Brazilian states, with the state of Amazonas especially hit. (Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/34pvUyi)
A new variant discovered at the end of last year led to an increase in new infections that overwhelmed the health care system, which continues to face widespread shortages of medical supplies, including oxygen, she said.
Brazil needs “very rigid” public health measures to contain the increase that is overwhelming hospitals’ ICU wards, said PAHO incident manager Sylvain Aldighieri.
Brazil recorded a record 1,972 deaths from COVID-19 in 24 hours on Thursday. Brazil has the second highest total number of deaths behind the United States.
The United States and Canada continue to record a drop in new cases of COVID-19, PAHO said.
Cuba, Bahamas, Saint Lucia and Guadalupe are experiencing an increase in infections, and in South America, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile are reporting an increase in new cases, while Peru and Bolivia are finally seeing declines, PAHO said,
Vaccines began to arrive in Latin America, with 28.7 million doses allocated to the region over the next three months, through the COVAX unit led by the GAVI alliance and the World Health Organization to provide equitable access to vaccines.
Honduras will receive its first 48,000 doses through the COVAX mechanism in the coming days, said Etienne, followed by El Salvador, which is expected to receive 32,600 doses and Guatemala, 81,6000 doses, all of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
PAHO, the WHO regional office in the Americas, has ordered the Serum Institute of India for 135,000 doses for Nicaragua and 228,000 for Bolivia, she said.
But PAHO warned that the supply of vaccines is limited, due to manufacturing restrictions and high demand, and some countries will have to wait several months before they receive the vaccines.
According to a Reuters count, Latin America recorded about 22.3 million cases of coronavirus and 704,000 deaths, almost double the number of deaths in Asia and Africa combined.
Report by Anthony Boadle, edited by Lisa Shumaker