Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Chief, Dr. Carissa F. Etienne.
As of this week, the Region of the Americas recorded almost 13.5 million COVID 19 cases and over some 469 000 deaths, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Chief reported.
Dr. Carissa F. Etienne told a press briefing on Wednesday that after months of unrelenting spread, cases are stabilising in the United States of America and Brazil. However, she said that these two countries continue to report the most new COVID-19 cases globally, a clear sign that transmission is still active.
“Along most of the Caribbean, however, we’re continuing to see a surge of the virus. In fact, nearly half of COVID cases in the Bahamas have been reported in the last two weeks.”
Looking south, the PAHO Director also disclosed that with the exception of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, which just reported its highest daily case count, most countries in Central America have seen COVID-19 cases drop over the last week. Also, she said that PAHO is seeing these downward shifts in South America, where Chile and Uruguay have managed to flatten their curves thanks to effective infection control and response tactics.
“Despite these hopeful trends, the human cost of this pandemic remains unacceptably high, with almost 4 000 deaths a day in our region,” she pointed out.
Dr. Etienne has reiterated that rising numbers of cases signal an urgent need to implement public health measures to slow the spread of COVID-19 such as contact tracing, social distancing, sheltering in place and limits on public gatherings.
“We can’t stop all transmission, but if countries stay vigilant and expand testing and surveillance, they can better identify spikes in cases and act quickly to contain them before they spread out of control,” she said. (TL)