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COVID-19 cases worsen in Latin America, no end in sight - health agency

01 July 2021 03:56 (UTC +04:00)

Cases of COVID-19 may be declining in North America but in most of Latin America and the Caribbean the end to the coronavirus pandemic "remains a distant future", the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Wednesday, APA reports quoting Reuters.

While infections in the United States, Canada and Mexico are falling, in Latin America and the Caribbean cases are rising and vaccination is lagging badly. Only one in ten people have been fully vaccinated, which PAHO director Carissa Etienne called "an unacceptable situation."

"While we are seeing some reprieve from the virus in countries in the Northern Hemisphere, for most countries in our region, the end remains a distant future," she said.

The regional health agency discouraged summer holiday travel in the Americas now that movement restrictions are being lifted as more people are vaccinated in the Northern Hemisphere and travel destinations, such as the Caribbean, reopen for tourists.

Even people who have been vaccinated can become sick and spread COVID, Etienne said in a weekly briefing.