MONTEVIDEO – More than one million people have died of Covid-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean since the pandemic began, according to an AFP count based on official figures as of yesterday at 2105 GMT.
The region has also recorded more than 31.5 million infections.
More than 90% of deaths have been registered in five countries that account for 70% of the region’s population: Brazil (446,309 dead), Mexico (221,080), Colombia (83,233), Argentina (73,391) and Peru (67,253).
“The lives of a million people have been cut short because of Covid-19. This is a tragic milestone for all of the region’s inhabitants,” said Carissa Etienne, director of the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).
“This pandemic is far from over and is hitting Latin America hard, affecting our health, economies and entire societies. However, only 3% of our population has been vaccinated.”
Brazil continues to record the largest number of new daily deaths with an average of almost 2,000 this week, although that’s a one-third drop from six weeks ago when it surpassed 3,000.
Mexico has made even better progress, dropping from 1,300 daily deaths at the end of January to an average of 170.
At the other end of the spectrum, Bolivia and Ecuador have seen daily deaths increase by 44% and 35%, respectively, over the last week.
Argentina and Colombia have experienced 15% and 4% increases in the same period.
Etienne blamed the slow vaccine roll-out in the region for the problems.
More than 153.5 million people in the Americas have been vaccinated against Covid-19, PAHO said, but only 21.6% of those have been in Latin America and the Caribbean.
“The region is an epicenter of Covid-19 suffering. It should also be an epicenter for vaccinations,” said Etienne.
In the United States, almost half the population has received at least one dose while close to 85% of those over 85 have had both, PAHO said.
Consequently the country has seen a huge reduction in new cases, hospitalisations and deaths.
“The progress we’re seeing in the United States is a testament to the power of safe and effective vaccines, but it underlines the vital importance of accelerating their access in all of our region, so our countries can immunise their entire populations,” said Etienne.
“We urgently need more vaccines for Latin America and the Caribbean.”
Overall, the region of 33 countries and 15 territories has recorded an average of almost 3,900 daily deaths over the last week – an increase of 1% on the previous week.
Infections, which averaged 142,000 a day, increased by 10% from the previous seven days.
Since the virus was first detected in China in December 2019, Latin America and the Caribbean has been the second worst affected region by deaths after Europe (almost 1.12 million fatalities) and well ahead of the United States and Canada (614,000).
The region accounts for close to 30% of the 3.44 million global deaths from Covid-19. – AFP, May 22, 2021
