Latin America is once again facing a growing contagion due to covid-19, where processions, gatherings and events related to the Good Friday festival take place between virtuality and low attendance amid a second and third wave that threatens to overwhelm . plus health services.
While the world has 129.2 million infections with 2.8 million deaths, America already reports 56.1 million infected, while deaths reach 1.35 million, given the impending rise in infections. which caught alarms in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil, where record numbers have been broken in virus-related cases.
Some governments have been forced to declare states of emergency – Ecuador this morning – quarantines, the closure of religious sites during festivities or even borders.
In the midst of this second Easter affected by covid-19 tourism and religion, the World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern about the continuing death toll.
“We have six consecutive weeks of increased transmission in all regions, it is a worrying and serious trend. After a year of pandemic there is a lot of fatigue and societies want the pandemic to end, but we are not going in the right direction,” he said. On Thursday, the head of the WHO anti-vision unit, Maria Van Kerkhove.
BRĂILA AND CHILI RECORD RECORDS IN COUNTINGS
Brazil, which continues to be the second most affected country by the virus in the world, with 12.8 million cases and 325,284 deaths, has accumulated several daily records in terms of the number of deaths. The latest was last Wednesday, with 3,869 deaths, a marked upward trend, despite the fact that in February the 2,000 daily deaths were never reached.
The country enters the final section of Holy Week and with average daily weekly peaks beating fateful records, despite gradual progress in vaccination and the most severe containment measures decreed by governors and mayors.
Chile, in turn, reached one million cases on Thursday, with hospitals on the verge of collapse, with 83% of the population being limited and new variants becoming strong, which forced it to close its borders throughout April.
In addition, the barrier of 8,000 new cases a day has been broken for the first time this Friday, calling into question the April 11 election, while a successful vaccination process is underway, receiving more than 6.8 million cases. million people at at least one dose (3.7 million the two injections).
ECUADOR IN AN EXCEPTIONAL STATE
Ecuador is under a state of emergency in eight of its 24 provinces, with an increase in cases now totaling 332,038; in the meantime, wait for the arrival of a million vaccines from the pharmaceutical company Sinovac next week.
Due to the increase in infections, which has already exceeded the installed capacity of some hospitals, especially in Quito and Guayaquil, the president, Lenín Moreno, declared a state of emergency due to the public calamity and the measure, which will last 30 days, includes a shutdown touch between 2 and 9 April.
For this reason, it was forbidden to hold all the events of influx and mass congregation in the eight provinces, such as the processions for Holy Week, which passed on the virtual field.
COLOMBIA RACE IN CASES
Colombian authorities have tightened restrictions on the population again in the middle of Holy Week due to the increase in UCI employment, after another 11,449 infections were added on Thursday, the highest figure since January 28 when there were 12,270, when the pandemic is triggered in almost all regions of the country, with 2,417,826 cases.
To try to anticipate a third peak, Bogota, which is celebrating the longest holiday bridge of the year, is preparing a hospital expansion plan for coronavirus-critical patients.
MEXICO AND VIACRUCIS
Mexico, which adds more than 2.2 million cases and nearly 203,000 deaths, the third highest figure in the world, is preparing to live this Holy Friday the most traditional and crowded Cross Stations in Iztapalapa in a virtual way from cause of pandemic restrictions.
One of the largest representations of the Catholic world, which usually gathers about a million believers each year, will not have an audience. Despite this, in the east of the Mexican capital there are still people who deny the existence of coronavirus, despite the fact that it is the most affected area of the country.
THE OTHER GIRL: DOCTORS AND VACCINES
This Easter there are several doctors who died of covid-19 in Latin America. In Venezuela, the Brazilian mutation caused the big wave of infections to reach the Caribbean country, with the possibility of a hospital collapse and a record 424 health workers who lost their lives.
A survey conducted by the consulting firm Fine Research, conducted between March 9-10 – 2,451 doctors in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, indicates that 95% of them recommend vaccination against covid-19 to their patients.
According to Diego Casaravilla, managing partner of the consultancy, one conclusion of the study is that “doctors trust the vaccines they consider relatively safe” based on solid evidence and therefore massively recommend vaccination.
“Their confidence, however, decreases to minimum levels when the reference no longer refers to vaccines, but to the vaccination process of countries implemented by the health authorities”, due to the delay in some countries.
It also estimates that about half of the population will be vaccinated by the end of 2021 and would take about 20 months to control the pandemic.