PAHO asks Caribbean to closely monitor COVID-19 cases to identify new risks

Caribbean: Although overall vaccination coverage has reached 41% in Latin America and the Caribbean, surveillance will continue to be key to identifying new risks and responding to local sources of infection, said the Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Carissa F. Etienne.

The PAHO Director warned of rising infection rates in the Caribbean, parts of Canada, Mexico, Bolivia, and Venezuela, and underscored the need to closely monitor and control infections as vaccine implementation continues.

"Monitoring has always been the eyes and ears to guide our response to COVID," Dr Etienne said during a press conference, "as we navigate our pandemic peaks and continue to track emerging variants."

"Health authorities must have a clear idea of ​​what is happening at the ground level and immediately communicate both the risks and the public health requirements necessary to reduce transmission," she said.

For municipalities to detect risks as they arise, added the Director, institutions such as laboratories, schools of public health and universities must also be empowered to diagnose new infections at the local level.

She also called for improving monitoring tools and systems to monitor diseases more efficiently and sustainably, adding that PAHO is working with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to execute a new PCR test protocol to detect COVID-19 and influenza from the same sample simultaneously.

Building on the region's long-standing surveillance networks, there are now 45 National Public Health Laboratories conducting PCR testing for countries in the Americas. PAHO recommends this network by regulating laboratory protocols, carrying training, and has also distributed more than 21 million COVID PCR tests and approximately 18 million rapid antigen tests.

This "allows us to closely monitor this virus and the emergence and spread of COVID-19 variants," said the Director. "We must continue to invest and expand this regional network."

Regarding the COVID-19 situation in the region, Dr Etienne said that last week the Americas reported almost 817,000 new infections and more than 18,000 deaths.

While cases are declining in North America, hospitalizations have increased in eastern Canadian provinces and there was an increase in deaths in Mexico.

COVID infections and deaths have decreased in most Central and South American countries, except for Bolivia and Venezuela.

Dr Etienne reminded that the position in the Caribbean persists serious. The Dominican Republic and Barbados recorded a 40% rise in new cases over the past week, whereas Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago and Martinique also observed an increase in new infections. Cases outlast high in Saint Martin, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Anguilla and the Cayman Islands.

The Director highlighted the forthcoming 30th anniversary of the last polio case in the Americas as a lesson to combat the disease through sustained and concerted action. "This extraordinary achievement was made possible by mass vaccination efforts and strong epidemiological surveillance," said Dr Etienne.

World Polio Day this Sunday, she continued, is a reminder of what can be accomplished in the region when nations work together to keep health threats under control, protect the most vulnerable and ensure access to vaccines for all.