America does not act as if the COVID-19 crisis is worsening – warns regional health official

BOGOTA (Reuters) – America is not behaving like a region facing an increasingly severe outbreak of COVID-19, the director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) warned on Wednesday.

This increase in infections is alarming, but not surprising, given the relaxed restrictions used to reduce the transmission of the virus, PAHO Director Carissa Etienne told a weekly news conference, adding that vaccination will not be enough to stop the tide. of contagion.

“Highly transmissible variants are spreading, and social distancing measures are not being followed as strictly as before,” Etienne said. “We are not behaving like a region in the middle of a worsening outbreak.”

More people have been infected with COVID-19 in the region in the past seven days than in most weeks last year, Etienne said, while weekly deaths are higher than in any week in 2020.

More than 1.3 million people in America were infected and nearly 36,000 died last week, PAHO said.

“There are simply not enough vaccines available to protect everyone in the countries at greatest risk,” Etienne said. “We must stop the transmission by any means possible with the tools at our disposal.”

It will be several weeks before the vaccine supply is normalized, Etienne said, adding that countries should continue to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine because side effects are very rare.

Leaders at every level can play a crucial role in tightening measures at the first sign of growing infections, she said.

“We have noticed an obvious relaxation in the implementation of public health measures,” said COVID-19 incident manager Sylvain Aldighieri. Regardless of the virus variant, COVID-19 has the ability to overwhelm health systems, he said.

Countries with significant increases in cases should consider blocking measures, although if outbreaks are already visible, it may be too late, said PAHO Director of Health Emergencies Ciro Ugarte.

“It is clearly necessary to consider these measures,” Ugarte said, adding that such measures should be localized and have a very limited duration.

If COVID-19 is not controlled worldwide, there is a worst-case scenario for a new vaccine-resistant variant, said PAHO Deputy Director Jarbas Barbosa.