In the past seven days, the region reported 3.3 million cases, 31 percent less than in the same previous period, and more than 34,000 related fatalities, an increase of 5.3, said the general director of the entity. , Carissa F. Etienne.
The transmission of the disease remains high, the senior official said at a press conference, who also warned that the number of deaths increased for six consecutive weeks.
“The trends on the continent show that every time infections rise, there is a high cost for our families and communities,” Etienne remarked, while affirming that the peaks in cases have been followed by peaks in deaths three weeks later.
Covid-19 is preventable, the doctor assured, and lamented that, at this time, we are losing too many lives, when it has been more deadly in the region than in any other part of the world, she emphasized.
More than 2.5 million people died during the pandemic and in the first month of 2022 alone the number caused by the coronavirus exceeds 100,000, he reflected.
Without a doubt, Ómicron was ahead of us, underlining authority, while – he added – this variant spread more quickly than others and “we are dealing with a volume of cases like never before.”
Unfortunately, when the tools we had developed to slow the spread and prevent infections arrived, they were not adequate for the new type of transmission patterns that it presents, Etienne said.
The truth, he acknowledged, is that the reduced public health measures were insufficient to reduce the scale of this wave. In addition, he explained, many inhabitants of the region remain unprotected against COVID-19 and have not yet received a life-saving vaccine.
People of all ages without immunization continue to fill our hospitals and intensive care units, highlighted the PAHO Director General.
car/znc
