Latin America is once again experiencing a resurgence of contagion from Covid-19, where the processions, meetings and events related to the Good Friday festival take place between virtuality and low attendance in the midst of a second and third wave that continues threatens to overwhelm. plus health services.
While the world records 129.2 million infections with a death toll of 2.8 million, America is already reporting 56.1 million infections, while the number of deaths rises to 1.35 million, given the imminent increase in infections that trigger alarms. have been struck in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil, where records of the numbers have been broken in cases related to the virus.
Some governments have been forced to declare exceptional states – Ecuador this morning – quarantines, closing religious sites during festivities, or even the borders themselves.
In the midst of this second Easter, hit by covid-19 tourism and religion, the World Health Organization (WHO) expressed concern about the weekly deaths that continue to rise.
“We have six consecutive weeks of increased transmission across 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 moving in the right direction,” he said . Thursday the head of the WHO anticovid unit, Maria Van Kerkhove.
BRAZIL AND CHILE INTERRUPT DOCUMENTS IN DISPUTES
Brazil, which remains the second most affected country in the world by the virus with 12.8 million cases and 325,284 deaths, has collected several daily records of the number of deaths. The latest was last Wednesday with 3,869 deaths, a marked upward trend despite the 2,000 daily deaths never being reached in February.
The country is entering the latter part of Holy Week and with weekly daily mean spikes breaking fateful records, despite gradual advances in vaccination and the toughest incarceration measures enacted by governors and mayors.
Chile, for its part, hit a million cases this Thursday with hospitals on the brink of collapse, trapping 83% of the population, and the new variants getting strong, forcing the country to close its borders in April.
In addition, the threshold of 8,000 new daily cases was crossed for the first time this Friday, raising doubts about the holding of the elections on April 11, while a successful vaccination process is underway that has taken in more than 6.8 million people at least one dose. (3.7 million the two injections).
ECUADOR IN A STATE OF EXCEPTION
Ecuador has an exceptional state in eight of the 24 provinces, with an increase in the number of cases now totaling 332,038; In the meantime, expect the arrival of one 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, particularly in Quito and Guayaquil, the president, Lenín Moreno, has declared an exception state for public calamities and the measure, which will last 30 days, includes a small curfew from April 2 to 9.
For this reason, the holding of all events of influx and mass congregation in the eight provinces, such as the Holy Week processions, which have passed to the virtual field, was banned.
COLOMBIA RACES IN CASES
Colombian authorities have tightened restrictions on the population in the middle of Holy Week due to the increase in the occupation of ICUs, after adding another 11,449 infections Thursday, the highest number since January 28 when there were 12,270, causing pandemic in almost all regions of the country with 2,417,826 cases.
To try to anticipate a third peak, Bogotá, which is celebrating the year’s longest holiday bridge, is preparing a hospital expansion plan for critical patients due to coronavirus.
MEXICO AND ITS 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 virtually experience the most traditional and busy Stations of the Cross in Iztapalapa this Good Friday due to pandemic constraints .
One of the largest representations of the Catholic world, usually gathering 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 the coronavirus, despite it being the most affected area in the country.
THE OTHER FACE: DOCTORS AND VACCINES
Several doctors in Latin America died of Covid-19 at Easter. In Venezuela, the Brazilian mutation has caused the great wave of infections to reach the Caribbean country, with the possibility of hospital collapse and a record 424 health workers killed.
A survey conducted by the Fine Research consultancy, conducted between March 9 and 10, among 2,451 doctors from 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 vaccines they consider relatively safe” based on solid evidence and therefore massively recommend vaccination.
However, their confidence drops to minimum levels when the referral no longer refers to vaccines but to the countries’ vaccination process implemented by health authorities, “due to the delay in some countries.
They also estimate that by the end of 2021, about half of the population would have been vaccinated and it would take about 20 months to get the pandemic under control.