PAHO: Be cautious about covid19 after Carnival

The Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) recommended that the population of Trindad and Tobago should be cautious after the celebration of Carnival and the progressive lifting of health measures against covid19.

Dr Carissa Etienne, director of PAHO, said on Wednesday although the general figures continue to fall in the Americas, in some countries, including TT, there are still high numbers of deaths and infections.

Speaking at the virtual press conference, she said in the last week there were about 1.5 million cases, a 32 per cent decrease, and 24,650 deaths, a ten per cent decrease, compared to the previous week.

Dr Ciro Ugarte, director of emergencies at PAHO, said the reduction in cases gives some peace of mind, but public health measures must be maintained.

“There are additional risks that may have been presented in Carnival and we will see it in the next two weeks. It is important now that people comply with the recommendations, especially in TT, where the reduction of measures against covid19 began to be activated. We advise TT people to be cautious and implement quarantine measures if they were in contact with people who had symptoms of the virus,” he said.

Dr Sylvain Aldighieri, director of incidents for covid19, said the downward trend in cases continued to be important.

But, he said, “The number of deaths continues to rise in Jamaica and TT.

"The omicron variant predominates in all countries, especially in the Caribbean, where all countries are reporting it, and although it could be less serious in people who have been vaccinated or recovered from previous infections, it can also be serious in unvaccinated people or people in risk groups,”

Etienne said throughout the Americas, covid19 has put the most vulnerable at risk and women have been disproportionately affected, s their are more domestic demands on them while they are also trying to return to work, in addition to an increase in violence against women.

She said there had been a 40 per cent increase in reports of domestic violence.

"Women have been put at risk during the pandemic,” said Etienne. “Countries must pay attention to the data that covid19 has been throwing up. There is a great increase in mortality in pregnant women, being the most vulnerable, owing to changes in the immune system. More than 365,000 pregnant women have been infected with covid19 and more than 3,000 died.”

Etienne said almost 70 per cent of women infected with the virus had premature births.

“The recommendation is that pregnant women get vaccinated, as well as young women, so that they are protected from the worst of the pandemic. There are still very low numbers of women vaccinated,” she said.

She said many countries are already making pregnant women a priority for immunisation.

Etienne highlighted it has been shown that women can receive all doses of the vaccines.