BRASILIA (Reuters) – The coronavirus is surging “dangerously” across Brazil, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) regional director for the Americas, Carissa Etienne, warned on Tuesday, urging all Brazilians to adopt preventive measures to stop the spread.
“Unfortunately, the dire situation in Brazil is also affecting neighboring countries,” Etienne, director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), said in a briefing.
Cases have risen in Venezuela’s Bolivar and Amazonas states, and in border regions of Peru and Bolivia, she said.
“The COVID-19 virus is not receding, nor is the pandemic starting to go away,” Etienne said.
In the Southern Cone, cases continue to spike in Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, according to PAHO.
In Paraguay, a majority of intensive care unit (ICU) beds are occupied, and the health system is buckling under the pressure. Uruguay has reported more than 1,000 cases per day several times in the past few weeks, an alarming number given the size of the country.
In Central America, cases have declined in Panama, but in Guatemala the rise in hospitalizations is straining ICU bed capacity.
“Vaccines are coming but they are still several months away for most people in our region.” Etienne said.
The COVAX facility led by WHO and the Gavi coalition to provide equitable access to vaccines has delivered 2,161,800 doses to the region so far, including more than 1 million doses to Brazil last weekend.
PAHO expects over 100,000 vaccine doses to be delivered this week to El Salvador, Belize and Suriname, and 1.2 million additional doses have already been procured.
(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
