While at one end of the continent Argentina was returning to a strict quarantine and at the other the capital of Mexico announced the return of concerts in June, the Pan American Health Organization announced a “tragic milestone”: deaths from COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean they exceeded one million.
“This pandemic is far from over, and it is hitting Latin America hard, affecting our health, economies, and entire societies,” PAHO Director Carissa Etienne said Friday. “However, only 3% of our populations have been vaccinated.”
Therefore, in addition to requesting more vaccines, he emphasized the importance of the region’s countries focusing on two priorities: reducing the transmission of the virus with proven public health measures and improving the region’s access to vaccines.
According to the data available as of May 21, communicated to PAHO by the American countries, 1,001,781 people have died from the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Latin America and the Caribbean. The two countries with the largest population, Brazil and Mexico, account for more than 66% of deaths.
However, the actual death toll from the pandemic may be much higher, as recognized by many authorities and by PAHO itself.
The agency’s director called for public health measures to continue to be observed, such as the use of masks, physical distancing, hand hygiene and ventilation of closed spaces whenever possible.
The call is especially important in countries like Argentina, where President Alberto Fernández announced a new severe confinement for nine days to stop the outbreak that has occurred in the country. Argentina has 3.4 million infected and more than 72,000 deaths, and the hospital occupancy in intensive care around the capital is at 90%.
Bolivia was also another of the Latin American countries that this week broke records of infections and deaths.
Mexico, however, announced that half of the country is on a “green traffic light”, the lowest level of risk, and the government of Mexico City even announced that in June not only face-to-face classes will return in schools but also open-air concerts will be resumed with sanitary measures.
In recent days, Mexicans from the center of the country had been seen returning without fear to witness football matches in almost full stadiums.
Meanwhile, on the Caribbean coast, the tourist state of Quintana Roo was on high alert (orange traffic light) and did not rule out having to re-impose greater restrictions to stop the outbreak that emerged after Easter.
Parallel to not lowering its guard, PAHO urged countries with the possibility to do so to donate vaccines.
“The region is an epicenter of suffering from COVID-19. It should also be an epicenter for vaccination, ”Etienne stressed. “We urgently need more vaccines.”
More than 153.5 million people have been vaccinated on the continent, but only 21.6% of them are in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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