The more localized the data ➡️ the better.
Because what’s happening in a country’s urban centers might not reflect the reality of its rural regions.
To better understand how this virus 🦠 is progressing and guide decisions, it’s critical that countries continue to collect and use subnational and subpopulation data 📊
@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19
As COVID cases are spreading more actively – and more quickly – than ever before, it’s clear that Omicron 🦠 has become the predominant SARS COV2 strain in our region at the moment.
In the Caribbean, Haiti and Martinique continue to report significant surges as both countries also report some of the lowest vaccination coverage rates in the region 🌎
And infections are especially high ⬆️ in Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador.
Argentina reported over 797,000 cases, while Brazil’s case count of 477,000 showed a 193% increase over the prior week.
In South America, Paraguay and parts of the Guianas are seeing COVID cases double 📈 nearly every two days.
In Central America, where weekly fatalities were up 107% compared to the previous week, Belize reports the highest rates of new infections 🦠, and infections are accelerating in Honduras and Costa Rica.
In North America, the US continues to have the highest numbers of new infections, although cases decreased ⬇️ by nearly one million over the last week.
By contrast, many of Mexico’s southern states have seen new infections triple over the last 7️⃣ days.
Deaths throughout the region also increased, with 18,000 new deaths marking a 37% relative increase over the prior week.
In the last week, more than 8️⃣ million new COVID-19 cases were reported in our region 🌎
This is the highest number of weekly cases 🦠 since the pandemic started and is 32% higher ⬆️ than the previous week.
