QCOSTARICA – The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) highlighted this Wednesday that COVID-19 cases are stabilizing in much of Central America, taking into account the figures reported in the last week.
However, Carissa Etienne, the Director of PAHO, representative of the World Organization of Health (WHO) in America, also spoke specifically about the situation in Costa Rica.
“COVID-19 cases are stabilizing in much of Central America, with Costa Rica presenting the highest incidence rate in the last week and Belize reporting a steady increase,” said Etienne.
It must be taken into account that this percentage includes both the daily cases of the new coronavirus and the number of people living in a country.
According to national studies, the rate of reproduction or contagion of the virus has fallen in recent weeks, although the decline has been slow. The country is close to reaching 100,000 cases of infections.
Etienne also pointed out that in all the subregions of America there is still a “high” transmission of the virus, with about 100,000 daily infections. She highlighted not only the incidence rates in the United States and Brazil, but also in Argentina, Colombia, Peru, and Mexico.
“The pandemic is not over and the threat of new cases is still active everywhere,” Etienne said.
➡️ #COVID19
“La pandemia no ha terminado y la amenaza de casos nuevos sigue activa en todas partes” @DirOPSPAHO pic.twitter.com/aEfL0rv91Y
— OPS/OMS (@opsoms) October 21, 2020
PAHO warned that disinformation threatens the response to COVID-19 in the American continent, in particular with regard to a vaccine against the virus.
“Disinformation is a serious threat to the health of our region. Insidious rumors and conspiracy theories can disrupt vaccination efforts and jeopardize our response to COVID-19, claiming lives, ”Etienne said.
“The way we communicate about vaccines for COVID-19 will make or break our ability to control the pandemic,” she emphasized.
More than 190 candidate vaccines are currently under study, 11 of them in phase 3 clinical trials, and the process is closely watched in the face of the urgency to achieve an immunization that is effective and safe against COVID-19.
