By Laura Gamba
BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has warned of the situation in the Americas, which is about to enter its third year of the coronavirus pandemic with a growing number of cases.
The Americas have surpassed 100 million cases of COVID-19 and the region continues to be the most affected in the world, with 36% of infections (100.5 million cases) and nearly 45% of deaths (2.4 million). Nearly half of the cases (46.2 million) and 62% of the fatalities (1.55 million) have occurred in Latin America.
In the past few days, the Americas reported over 1 million new COVID-19 infections, a 6% increase from the previous week.
The omicron variant of the coronavirus has so far been detected in 20 countries of the Americas including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the US and Canada.
The Dominican Republic reported one case on Saturday and authorities in Paraguay on Monday reported the country’s first three positive cases of the variant in travelers coming from Cancun in Mexico.
However, the organization warned that vaccine inequity continues to divide the region, with many countries unlikely to reach the 40% vaccination target by the end of the year.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recorded more than 276 million infections and 5.4 million deaths from COVID-19 globally.
Although the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday cut the isolation time from 10 days to five for people testing positive for the coronavirus, PAHO continues to recommend vaccination and health measures to reduce the risk of exposure to the virus.