COVID-19: they ask not to let our guard down in America due to a new variant and an increase in cases

Much of Latin America is registering an uptick in cases of COVID-19 after the end of the year celebrations, while the situation seems under control in Brazil or Mexico, so the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the coronavirus continues to “mutate and kill” so we should not let our guard down.

In the last months of 2023, the presence of a new variant was detected, the JN.1., which is transmitted more easily because it is more resistant to the immune system of the people who contract it.

Between the first and second week of 2024, both the WHO as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended resume the use of face masks or masks in closed spacesespecially in hospitals and clinics after the increase in patients with COVID-19 or other respiratory diseases.

Although it is true that currently the impact of the coronavirus has decreased, health authorities have urged different governments to take other measures such as reinforcements in vaccination so that cases do not escalate, which in most countries no longer exists. they get reported.

”The new variants of COVID-19such as Omicrom or JN.1., are considered of interest due to the changes in the behavior of the virus and the impact on people’s health,” a WHO source told EFE.

And he reiterated this week’s call from the Director General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, for preventive measures to be adopted against a disease that “although it no longer represents an international emergency, continues to circulate, mutate and kill.”

Globally, hospitalizations increased by 42% and patient admissions to the ICU increased by 68%.

Mask and vaccination

In the United States, several hospitals have once again required the use of masks due to the increase in infections due to COVID-19flu and other respiratory diseases.

However, the increase in infections is difficult to measure in USA because many states have stopped collecting data and the only organization that continues to publish figures is the CDC, which points out that four years after the COVID-19 arrived in the country, hundreds of people continue to die every week.

According to the CDC, in the week of December 9, 2023, the last with complete data, 1,614 deaths from COVID-19.

On average, in the last few weeks with complete data, there were about 1,488 weekly deaths. Although these death tolls remain high, they are lower than the record of 25,974 deaths recorded in the week ending January 9, 2021. On the other hand, the flu was the main cause of 163 deaths in the week ending January 9, 2021. December 2023, according to the CDC.

The infections due to COVID-19 they shot up in the last week in Dominican Republic with 793 cases, 541 more than the previous week, the highest number reported in recent months.

The national director of Epidemiology, Ronald Skewes, highlighted the importance of wearing masks in closed and crowded places, frequently washing hands and continuing with vaccination against the disease.

In Bolivia, infections increased by 130% from the end of 2023 to date, so in cities like La Paz, the seat of Government, the use of face masks was resumed and at vaccination points there is a greater influx of people in search of booster vaccines against COVID-19.

Street vaccination posts have been set up throughout the country and immunization campaigns are also carried out in prisons.

The Ministry of Health of Paraguay On December 29, it issued an alert addressed to technical teams and health personnel about the increase in the circulation of the coronavirus, consultations for influenza, and hospitalizations for acute respiratory infections.

Between December 31 and January 6, which corresponds to the first epidemiological week of 2024, 1,048 cases of covid-19 were recorded, 4 deaths and 129 hospitalized patients.

Since the beginning of 2024, 15 people have died from the COVID-19 in Peru, so the authorities have reiterated that it is necessary to get vaccinated again and maintain prevention measures, but they have not adopted tougher policies such as the mandatory use of masks.

According to the Government, the number of deaths shows “figures that are statistically expected and occur year after year” and despite the increase in infections and deaths, it considers that the country is not facing “a sixth wave” of the disease, which placed Peru in the nation with the highest mortality rate in the world.

In Colombiathe director of the National Institute of Health (INS), Giovanny Rubiano, said that “even with the circulation” of the new variants in the country “there is no greater severity of the disease, nor greater hospitalization or deaths.”

He recalled that the country registers the expected increase in cases of respiratory infection that normally occurs during the last quarter of the year and that increases in the period of December and January, due to the greater social interaction during the holidays, climatic phenomena and the influx of travelers from Europe and the United States.

For its part, the Ministry of Public Health of Cuba recommended the use of the mask in crowds and keeping the vaccination schedule updated and noted that it maintains “active” surveillance to detect the presence of respiratory viruses and new variants of the virus. COVID-19.

The Department of Health Puerto Rico warned that cases increased with an average daily record of 641 reported infections, which coincides with an increase in visits to emergency rooms by patients suffering from other respiratory diseases, however, the island’s Government has not announced at the moment no type of measure such as the use of masks.

“Controlled” situation

Whereas in Venezuelaauthorities denied “rumors about an outbreak of COVID-19″ in the country and assured that “precautions are maintained” to deal with this disease, without offering more details in this regard.

In recent days, some doctors have reported an increase in hospital admissions for respiratory conditions in Venezuela, which is why the National Academy of Medicine asked the Government this week to “seek to obtain new vaccines,” especially after confirming the presence of the variant JN.1 in neighboring Colombia.

Although EFE has confirmed in Caracas that some people are using masks in closed spaces, such as pharmacies and supermarkets, there has been no indication from the authorities to resume this practice, although in some hospitals this safety measure has been implemented again. caution, at discretion.

In other countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Chile, El Salvador, Honduras or Costa Rica, no significant increases have been reported in recent weeks.

In Brazil, in the first week of January there were 19,950 infections, a number lower than the previous week and which is in line with the data from the previous two months