PAHO Director says Reduced public health measures contributed to deadly COVID-19 surge in the Americas

Washington D.C., 16 February 2022 (PAHO) – Complacency around mask wearing, travel, and indoor gatherings created a perfect opportunity for the new Omicron variant to spread rapidly throughout the region and increase deaths, alerted PAHO Director, Carissa F. Etienne, with many places remaining “just as they were before.”“Reduced public health measures were insufficient to reduce the scale of this wave. And now we’re dealing with the consequence: a rise in infections is driving a surge in deaths,” she said at a media briefing today.While still very high, COVID-19 infections declined by 31% this week, and deaths continued to rise by 5.6%.“Undoubtedly, Omicron overtook us,” the Director said. “Every time infections surge, there is a heavy toll for our families and communities,” with peaks in cases followed by peaks in deaths three weeks later.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/depictions-media--4208927/support.