Nicolás Maduro confirmed on Sunday that Venezuela is facing a second wave of the covid-19 virus, mainly due to the Brazilian version. “It is a reality that Brazil is the biggest threat in the world and affects all its neighbors.” he showed.
He also announced that Easter will be in radical quarantine again this year. “We are going to two weeks of radical quarantine “, He said. And it is that for a few days the reality in the neighboring country is indisputable in the face of increasing cases.
The Pérez family spent last Wednesday afternoon looking for a place to hospitalize their 68-year-old aunt who contracted COVID-19. Only at 19:00 they received space in one of the clinics in the southeast of the Venezuelan capital.
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According to estimates released by Imperial College London last week, up to 3,500 people would be added to the uncertain local list of people infected with the virus every day. However, the Maduro regime reported the most, by last Saturday, 1,160 new cases that day.
In total, it has recognized only about 150,000 infections since the first case was announced, just over a year ago. Sub-registration has since been reported, but has now become more apparent. Clinics and hospitals have reported total occupancy in recent days and, in some cases, exceeding capacity.
Venezuelans’ concern about the increase in the number of cases is growing amid uncertainty. “We have spent a year in which the official spokesperson or the person responsible for implementing health policies has never made the necessary arrangements.” denounced, in a conversation with EL TIEMPO, Jaime Lorenzo, executive director of the United Doctors of Venezuela (MUV).
At the beginning of the pandemic, this organization highlighted the “compromised” situation in which the country’s hospitals were found. A year later, they regret that the Maduro regime has not made the necessary purchases to take on the “continuous and efficient” supply of materials for the care of covid-19 and other diseases.
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The consequences are unfortunate. According to official figures, about 1,500 people have lost their lives in Venezuela due to the disease. However, in only one municipality in the state of Táchira, on the border with Colombia, the mayor acknowledged 849 deaths due to covid-19, which would represent more than half of the deaths allowed by the regime. This is without taking into account the fact that, among the medical staff, the deceased amounted, until last Friday, to 369 people, according to MUV figures.
The Brazilian strain?
In the first days of the month, Maduro confirmed the presence of the Brazilian strain of covid-19, for which he announced special preventive measures. “The problem is trying to find an explanation for a situation that got out of hand. “ Lorenzo whipped. In his view, the regime would not have a clear characterization of the disease because it would not carry out an appropriate search.
“The search for cases does not ask questions, it is a test, and the test is the molecular test, PCR, you should cover the Venezuelan population in a very high percentage to say how many patients you have symptomatic and asymptomatic and, therefore, make socio-political or socio-economic decisions “, said the executive director of MUV.
Since the arrival of the pandemic in this country, it has been reported that there is insufficient evidence. Earlier this month, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) reiterated it and reported that only 5 of the 24 Venezuelan states have direct access to PCR testing.
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More recently, however, lPan American Health Organization (PAHO) Recognizes Improvement of Network and Sample Logistics Organization in Venezuela, and reported a 600% increase in the use of this method, starting in January this year, to exceed, on March 15, the 21,500 tests performed.
Dangerous cocktail
In June 2020, Venezuela began implementing a method called 7×7, a week of quarantine radicalization, followed by a week of relaxation.
However, in December, Maduro made quarantine more flexible throughout the month, which he repeated during carnival week.
“We were led to believe that the pandemic was under control and we noticed how the regime irresponsibly promoted an open carnival throughout the country, which today is undoubtedly beginning to translate into new outbreaks of contagion,” warned the opposition, Primero Justicia. a statement issued last Tuesday.
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“About October, we noticed and it became more obvious in January an internal migration of medical staff. They are not leaving the country, but are looking for other sources of income and are therefore withdrawing from the public health system, “said Lorenzo, who referred to poor wages and deplorable working conditions.
The specialist adds a fourth ingredient to the mixture: how to vaccinate, without a plan known to all, just over a month after the arrival of the first doses of Sputnik V and began to be applied.
The President of the National Academy of Medicine, Enrique López Loyo, assured that COVID-19 vaccination coverage did not reach 5% last Friday, and estimated that, at this rate, immunization of the herd could be accomplished in 2 years.
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ANDREINA ITRIAGO
Correspondent THE TIME
Caracas Venezuela)