Two months after the first case appeared in Sao Paulo, the Covid-19 left more than 10,000 people dead and infected some 200,000 people in Latin America, a region of the world with more than a billion inhabitants. Brazil has the heaviest death toll, with 5,017 victims of Covid-19, followed by Mexico (1,732), Peru (943), Ecuador (900), the Dominican Republic (301) and Colombia (278), according to an AFP count drawn up on Thursday 30 April from official sources.

With 25,000 confirmed cases, Ecuador is proportionally the most affected Latin American country. In the city of Guayaquil, the economic capital, the virus has wreaked havoc on an already fragile public health system. And the authorities of this city had to manage in mid-April the evacuation of several hundred corpses wrapped in black plastic bags which were in homes or were abandoned on the street. Difficult under these conditions to establish a precise balance sheet.

Several countries in the region have indeed lacked responsiveness and transparency, particularly in Central America, and the precise assessments of this epidemic are sometimes difficult to establish. In Nicaragua, the only country in the zone to have adopted no containment measures, the authorities only recognize a handful of infected people. And the government is accused by the organization Amnesty International of having "exposed the population" to the risks of contagion by organizing in particular parades and rallies.

Conversely, neighboring countries were able to react very quickly by quickly adopting measures aimed at curbing the spread of the virus. A strategy dictated by the weakness of the health sector and the inability to cope with a large number of patients. "Overall, the epidemic has been relatively contained so far," said Kevin Parthenay, professor of universities in Tours. This specialist from Central America follows closely the evolution of the epidemic in this area which counts approximately 50 million inhabitants. And he expects heavy social consequences in this already fragile region where informal work is highly developed. "Containment is very hard to bear for many. It is above all for families to be able to eat," he explains to France 24.

A peak still not reached

This question of the balance between restrictive measures and social reality arises in many Latin American countries. And some of them, having limited the effects of containment as much as possible, are already beginning to lift it. A relaxation that, according to Marcos Espinal, director of the contagious diseases department at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), could prove disastrous if it is carried out too abruptly. Countries "shouldn't let their guard down until not only do we see no signs that the epidemic has peaked, but also until we have several days with a steady decline in cases," adds he.

In Mexico, where President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was initially reluctant to take restrictive measures, hospital infrastructure to treat serious respiratory infections is occupied at less than 30%, but the lack of medical personnel remains a problem . "We should have 3.4 doctors per thousand inhabitants and there are regions (...) where we unfortunately have 0.6 doctors", notes Alejandro Svarch, of the Institute of Health.

In some rural areas of Brazil, the public health system is on the verge of collapse. In Manaus, the capital of the Amazon state with the largest indigenous population, more than 95% of intensive care beds are occupied and the region has the highest Covid-19 fatality rate. And the big cities of the country are not spared since in Rio de Janeiro, more than 70% of the beds in intensive care are occupied and the difficulties of access to health services for the 1.5 million inhabitants of the favelas is a additional vulnerability factor.

According to Marcos Espinal of PAHO, screening to isolate asymptomatic carriers is now essential to control the curve of contamination. Chile, 18 million inhabitants and 227 deaths due to the virus, "has opened the way by ensuring that screening is accessible to all its citizens", welcomes the expert. And wearing a mask has also become compulsory in many countries of the region.

With AFP

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