PAHO Director: 'the work to control the pandemic in 2021 will not be easy or fast'
The pandemic caused by the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19) hit all the countries of the Americas in 2020, infecting more than 35 million people and causing some 850,000 deaths.
The Americas were the most affected continent, in the context of a region with great inequalities, emphasized the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), taking stock of the current health crisis.
PAHO Director Carissa F. Etienne classified this pandemic as the most extraordinary public health event of our lives, while acknowledging that the work to control the pandemic in 2021 will not be easy or fast.
PAHO emphasized that contact tracing is essential for health authorities to keep the spread of the virus under control. Thus, in collaboration with the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), PAHO explained that it trained health workers in 31 countries and territories in the Go.Data application , which allows investigation and management of cases Covid-19 suspects, viewing chains of transmission, and contact tracking.
Although we hope that 2021 will add a new chapter in our fight against this virus, protecting the millions of people in our region with Covid-19 vaccines will be a great task, said the PAHO director.
Therefore, we must be patient and realistic that Covid-19 will be with us for some time, so our work to control it cannot and must not stop, he added.
Vulnerable people in the Americas are already receiving Covid-19 vaccines, and millions more doses are expected in 2021. This timeline - Etienne commented - is 'amazing' and a testament to the unprecedented collaboration between scientists, researchers and experts equally.
PAHO Director Carissa F. Etienne classified this pandemic as the most extraordinary public health event of our lives, while acknowledging that the work to control the pandemic in 2021 will not be easy or fast.
PAHO emphasized that contact tracing is essential for health authorities to keep the spread of the virus under control. Thus, in collaboration with the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), PAHO explained that it trained health workers in 31 countries and territories in the Go.Data application , which allows investigation and management of cases Covid-19 suspects, viewing chains of transmission, and contact tracking.
Although we hope that 2021 will add a new chapter in our fight against this virus, protecting the millions of people in our region with Covid-19 vaccines will be a great task, said the PAHO director.
Therefore, we must be patient and realistic that Covid-19 will be with us for some time, so our work to control it cannot and must not stop, he added.
Vulnerable people in the Americas are already receiving Covid-19 vaccines, and millions more doses are expected in 2021. This timeline - Etienne commented - is 'amazing' and a testament to the unprecedented collaboration between scientists, researchers and experts equally.