The rise in COVID-19 infections also has an impact on children, adolescents and young people in age ranges from 0 years to 19 years.
The Ministry of Public Health foresees that the scenario of increased COVID-19 infections will continue with the prevalence of the omicron variant, considered to be more transmissible, in Ecuador, this and the following week.
The Minister of Health, Ximena Garzón, detailed this Monday 10 that in the first week of January there were 11,362 new cases at a general level, of which the majority are concentrated in the age range of 20 to 49 years, followed by those between 50 and 64 and also minors between 0 and 11 months and up to 14 years, however, they are the ones who contract the virus the least so far.
At a general level, in the country, there is a viral positivity of 53% in antigen tests and 38% in PCR (polymerase chain reaction tests).
In the midst of the unusual rise in the number of infected, the health situation also affects the country’s child and adolescent population. This is evident in the main cities: Quito and Guayaquil.
Faced with this increase in cases, after the December festivities, the Ministry of Education ordered that this week classes in public schools be suspended in order to motivate parents to go to vaccinations so that the population under 5 to 17 years old can complete your immunization schedule.
At various immunization points in Guayaquil, between last weekend and this Monday, January 10, the presence of parents in the company of their children was noted so that the minors complete the vaccination schedule.
At the Admiral Illingworth Naval Academy, in the north of the city, a coliseum is enabled for the application of doses at a general level, including that school group. There, health personnel said that they had around 40 minors between the ages of 5 and 17 who had received doses until 11:00 this Monday the 10th.
Before 10:15 am, in the midst of a relatively low turnout, Patricio Almeida managed to get his sons Mateo, 5, and Dylan, 9, to receive the second dose of the immunizer. “More than anything, it is being shown that vaccination is useful much more than anything because of the lethality of the disease, it is being shown that vaccination is working,” added the man.
Likewise, Maritza Gutiérrez arrived from the Juan Montalvo cooperative, assisting her father, Heriberto, 96, and her 8-year-old daughter Valeska, to receive the first and second dose, respectively. She said that she took advantage of the break in classes at the Jorge Enrique Adum prosecutor’s office to protect her family with the biological that corresponded to them.
“Because there is a lot of obstacles to enter a shopping center and also for security,” said Jefferson Orrala, who arrived from Flor de Bastión with Ericka Sorroza to complete the immunization scheme for his 10-year-old daughter Paulina, who is educated in a fiscal establishment. In addition, in case of educational requirements, he said that he hoped to obtain the full card.
On a tour of Guayacanes, one of the sectors with the highest incidence of the virus in Guayaquil, Katherine Olaya, head of the Epidemiological Surveillance Directorate of zone 8 of the Ministry of Public Health, said that the strategy seeks to increase immunization coverage of the population aged 5 to 17 years so that they are not susceptible to COVID-19 or that they are transmitters of it to a certain age group. She considered that the statistics of infections in that group is “very low.”
The rise in COVID-19 infections also has an impact on children, adolescents and young people in age ranges from 0 years to 19 years. Among infants, from 0 to 4 years old, in all of 2020 (from week 11, between March 8 and 14 until the end of the year) there were a total of 112 cases; While in 2021 (until week 51, from December 19 to 25) there were 318.
The peak week in this age range was between April 11 and 17, 2021, with 18 cases, while between last December 12 and 18, according to provisional figures, 16 infections were reached; and between December 19 and 25 at 13 only in Guayaquil, when the weekly average of the previous four months was between 2 and 3. This represents an increase of at least 433%.
Among children from 5 to 9 years old, in 2020 (from March 8) 123 cases were registered; while in 2021 (until December 25) they totaled 441.
The peak week in Guayaquil in this age range was between March 28 and April 3, 2021, with 33 cases, while between last December 19 and 25 we reached, according to provisional figures, 16 infections, and between 12 and 18 of that same month, to 14 cases, when the weekly average of the previous four months was between 4 and 5. This is equivalent to an increase of 300%.
In Guayaquil, among preadolescents, 10 to 14 years old, in all of 2020 (from week 11, between March 8 and 14 until the end of the year) there were a total of 250 cases; While in 2021 (until week 51, from December 19 to 25) there were 760.
The peak week in this age range was between April 4 and 10, 2021, with 51 cases; While between last December 19 and 25, according to provisional figures, 37 infections were reached only in Guayaquil, when the weekly average of the previous four months was between 5 and 6. This represents an increase of at least 640 %.
Among adolescents and young people, from 15 to 19 years old, in 2020 (from March 1), 487 cases were registered; While in 2021 (until December 25) they totaled 1,177.
The peak week in Guayaquil in this age range was between January 3 and 9, 2021, with 70 cases; While between last December 19 and 25, according to provisional figures, 56 infections were reached, when the weekly average of the previous four months was between 5 and 6. This is equivalent to an increase of 1,020%.
The increase is also evident in Quito between the week of Christmas (December 19 to 25) and that of the weekly average of the preceding four months.
In infants from 0 to 4 years old, the increase in Quito alone is 75% of cases (from 4 a week to 7); while in the childhood age group from 5 to 9 years it remained the same (8 per week). And in pre-adolescence, from 10 to 14 years old, there was an increase of 112%, they went from 8 to 17 per week.
Meanwhile, in adolescents from 15 to 19 years, an increase of 183% was detected, from 12 to 34 per week.
Suspension of children’s centers and return to classrooms with 50% capacity
Child development centers and educational institutions that offer face-to-face initial education regulated by the Ministry of Education for children under 5 years of age in fiscal establishments remain suspended between January 10 and 16.
The Minister of Education, María Brown Pérez, said that this measure is applied to guarantee that her teachers can access the third dose of vaccine against COVID-19.
In the case of private, fiscal and municipal establishments, Brown argued that they will be able to suspend services, and recover them at the end of the school year, or agree with families to provide support from a distance, such as sending recreational activities.
On Monday, January 17, 2022, he added, face-to-face activity will resume in reduced capacity of a maximum of 50% and on a voluntary basis.
Vaccination in collaborators of the educational system
More than 30,990 people who work in the educational system received the booster dose against COVID-19, between last Friday and Saturday, and a total of 189,000 workers linked to that area completed the immunization schedule (two doses). (I)
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