WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th April, 2021) Coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are rising sharply throughout Latin America and the Caribbean as supplies of vaccines languish, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Director Carissa Etienne said on Wednesday.
"In total 1.4 million new COVID-19 cases were reported in the Americas in the past week, while 36,000 people died of the disease, Etienne said in a press release. "In fact, one in four COVID-19 deaths reported worldwide last week took place right here in the Americas."
Etienne said hospitalizations hit an all-time high in Costa Rica, and hospitals reached maximum capacity in Guatemala and in the Colombian cities of Bogota and Medellin.
Cases are also increasing in Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay and nearly every Central American country, Etienne said.
Etienne urged nations to send surplus vaccines to the region, where she said "supplies continue to languish."
Etienne also urged nations throughout the region to tighten public health measures by extending curfews, limiting re-openings, and imposing new stay-at-home orders to combat the latest surge.
