Anna-Lisa Paul
COVID-19 cases and deaths are said to have declined in most countries and territories in the Americas over the past few weeks – but despite this, the region has continued to record more than 620,000 new cases every week.
Claiming infections were again on the rise in some places, Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) Director, Dr Carissa Etienne, on Wednesday said increased tourism and a relaxing of public health measures could be what is driving current Omicron surges.
“Over the last few weeks, many countries and territories in the Americas have scaled back public health measures and some have done so prematurely. As travel restrictions have loosened, case counts have risen in places that rely on tourism, especially in parts of North America and the Caribbean where vaccination coverage is low.”
During yesterday’s weekly PAHO briefing, she said across the Caribbean, 15 countries and territories also saw a surge in new infections.
Meanwhile, deaths were also said to have increased in some countries throughout the region.
Saying data adjustments could account for some of these increases, as countries were reclassifying deaths attributable to the COVID virus, Etienne pointed out, “This new wave that we are seeing comes just a few weeks after the dramatic surges that Europe and East Asia experienced as the Omicron sub-lineage BA2 spread through their populations.”
Noting that the Omicron BA2 variant had already been detected in 8.7 per cent of the sequencing reported in South America, she warned, “In the Caribbean and across North America, Omicron is becoming the dominant variant circulating in our communities.”
In Canada, cases were said to have increased by one-third compared to the previous week and hospitalisations reportedly rose by ten per cent.
Etienne warned, “We cannot ignore the risk of further COVID-19 surges in other parts of the region.”
“We must face it together with caution but also with confidence because we know what it takes to protect our people.”
Reinforcing the importance of vaccination, she said efforts had to be made to fill those gaps as Omicron had made it clear that vaccines were key to saving lives and preventing severe illness.
While more than 685 million people in the region have completed their full vaccine schedules, the PAHO head said approximately 240 million people in the Americas were yet to get a single shot of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Calling on countries to redouble their efforts to ensure vulnerable populations remain protected against the virus, Etienne advised people to, “monitor the virus to prepare for what is coming next.”
Although testing remained a critical tool to help countries track their COVID-19 spread, she admitted, “Some countries have changed their testing strategies, making it more difficult to get a full picture of BA2 in our region.”
