St Kitts and Nevis, Barbados reporting high number of COVID deaths, infections: PAHO

Washington, DC: In a press conference on Wednesday, PAHO stated that coronavirus cases in the Americas are reaching their lowest levels in one year, while some island countries are noticing the first pandemic peak with the highest number of new infections and deaths.

PAHO Assistant Director Jarbas Barbosa, while many islands are reporting a decline in infections, St Kitts and Nevis, Barbados, Anguilla, St Vincent and the Grenadines are small states undergoing massive coronavirus outbreaks.

PAHO said that even though coronavirus infections started to decrease in many countries like Cuba, vaccines remain a challenge.

Barbosa stated on Wednesday that the United States reported more than 800,000 new infections and 18,000 deaths in the last seven days - a drastic drop in recent weeks. "We have reason to be optimistic, but we need to stay awake," Barbosa said during a regular virtual news briefing.

The downward trend in COVID-19 infections is due to progress in vaccination campaigns across the region. However, PAHO officials say gaps remain, and many countries, particularly those with low vaccination rates, remain at risk of more outbreaks.

Furthermore, he stated that only 44% populations in Latin America and Caribbean are vaccinated against coronavirus, and the gap is hard to fill.