PAHO: COVID-19 cases drop in several countries of the Americas, but deaths rise

new infections of COVID-19 began to decline in several countries in the Americas, although they remain “very high”, but deaths increased, particularly in parts of Central and South America, reported the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

The regional office of World Health Organization (WHO) pointed out that in the first week of February, more than 4.8 million new cases of COVID-19 and more than 33,000 new deaths were registered in the Americas.

This represents a 31% reduction in cases and a 13% increase in deaths compared to the last week of January.

In North America, new infections and deaths fell in all three countries – the United States, Canada and Mexico – although hospitalizations only decreased in the first two.

New cases fell across Central America, but deaths rose nearly 30%. The decrease in infections was pronounced in El Salvador, by 70%, and in Belize and Panama, by more than a third.

South America saw a slowdown in infections, with cuts in half in Argentina and Peru. But deaths from COVID-19 continued to rise, with increases from 9.4% in Bolivia to 42% in Venezuela.

In addition, an increase in hospitalizations was observed in most of the countries of the Southern Cone, with an increase of 50% in Chile.

Fewer new cases and more deaths were also reported in the Caribbean, except in a few countries. In Dominica, for example, infections increased by 88%.

PAHO Director Carissa Etienne underscored the impact of vaccination in reducing cases of severe illness and death from COVID-19.

“A trend stands out: countries with higher vaccination coverage are seeing fewer admissions and deaths in intensive care units,” he assured at a press conference.

“This emphasizes the importance of expanding access to vaccines, including booster doses,” he said.

According to PAHO figures, one in four people in the Americas has not received a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“Uncertainty”

Does the decrease in cases suggest the end of the pandemic?

“The main characteristic of this pandemic continues to be the uncertainty of its evolution. And this requires some caution. New variants of concern may arise and completely change the epidemiological profile of COVID-19″, warned Etienne.

According to Sylvain Aldighieri, PAHO’s incident manager, “we are probably on the downward slope of a global wave caused by omicron.”

Omicron, the fifth variant of concern designated by the WHO since the appearance of the virus in late 2019 (after alpha, beta, gamma and delta), has generally caused less severe cases, but transmissibility has been much higher, with which “still has a significant impact,” he said.

“If additional variants were to emerge, we cannot anticipate whether they would be more or less severe and transmissible, and this is an uncertainty that we have to deal with,” Aldighieri said.

Etienne stressed that while the virus that causes COVID-19 may “eventually” become endemic, “this may take a few years.”

“Unfortunately, we expect to see new epidemics or large outbreaks even in areas with high vaccination coverage, especially where public health and social distancing measures are relaxed,” he said.