INTERNATIONAL DRAFTING.- The American continent, which accumulates more than 55 million cases of coronavirus and 1.3 million deaths, increased its inequalities during the long year of the pandemic and threw 22 million people back into poverty and another 8 million into poverty extreme, according to the annual report delivered this Wednesday by Amnesty International (AI).
According to AI, the precarious situation of the continent in relation to human rights has been “exacerbated” during the pandemic and the abuses became even more evident in a crisis that transcends beyond health.
«What the covid-19 has come to reveal is how those historically marginalized groups in the continent, as a consequence of inequalities, neglect and abuse suffered for decades, are left in greater exposure to the impact of covid-19, not only in terms of contagion and deaths, ”Erika Guevara, AI’s director for the Americas, explained to Efe.
In the world, the number of deaths from covid-19 increased by 11% in the past week compared to the previous one, with 71,000 registered deaths, according to the epidemiological report of the World Health Organization (WHO) released this Wednesday .
And, in turn, the number of cases increased, albeit more slightly, by 5% in contrast to the previous week, with more than 4 million reported infections.
THE IMF ALSO ALERT FOR INEQUALITIES
For her part, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, urged advanced countries on Wednesday to “put aside export controls” and ensure that “surplus vaccines reach poor countries” to leave the pandemic crisis behind as soon as possible.
“We must increase the production and distribution of vaccines and put aside export controls. It also means fully funding the Covax tool (for equitable distribution of vaccines) and ensuring that surplus vaccines are transferred to poor countries, ”Georgieva said at the IMF spring assembly press conference.
THE ALARM GROWS BY COUNTRIES
After the alarms in Chile and the containment measures in Colombia, Uruguay, which at the beginning of the pandemic kept a low profile, is experiencing increasing pressure due to the spread of the covid, despite the rate of vaccination.
Today, the southern country registered 217 deaths from covid-19 in the first six days of April, a figure higher than that of the first nine months of the pandemic in the South American country in 2020, which lit the alarm light of the authorities.
After a sustained growth in the number of fatalities, for the first time on April 1, the South American country registered more than 30 in one day, with 35 people who lost their lives due to causes associated with the coronavirus.
BOLSONARO, FROM NEGACIONISM TO RESIGNATION
In Brazil, which continues to score records due to the impact of the pandemic, with daily death toll that have already exceeded 4,000, President Jair Bolsonaro went from denial to resignation because, he says, “it is practically impossible to eradicate it.”
In the 24 hours closed this Tuesday in Brazil, 4,195 people died from covid-19, for the first time above 4,000 deaths and just two weeks after the 3,000 death mark was reached.
In addition, the latest figures show that Brazil reported 3,829 new deaths and accumulates 340,776 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, which is in its worst phase in the country, according to data released by the Government.
Despite these statistics, Bolsonaro again spoke out on Wednesday against the confinements and other measures to stop the spread of the pandemic and in favor of remedies without proven efficacy against the virus.
In a ceremony held in the city of Chapecó, in the south of the country, the president repeated his arguments against the measures that restrict economic activity to contain infections and said “regret all the deaths”, without making any mention of the brand of 4,195 deaths from coronavirus registered this Tuesday in Brazil.
RESTRICTIONS IN ARGENTINA AND NEW VARIANTS IN CUBA
On the other hand, the president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, announced new restrictions on various activities and the movement of people to face the second wave of covid-19 in the country, where the cases reached a new record this day, with a total of 22,039.
“We are going to redouble the care,” Fernández said in a message recorded from the gardens of the presidential residence in Olivos, where he has been isolated since last Friday, after being diagnosed with covid-19.
The new restrictions, which will be in effect from next Friday until April 30, include the prohibition of driving between 00:00 and 06:00.
Cuba, which reported 961 new COVID-19 infections and two deaths, for a cumulative 82,601 positive cases and 442 deaths since the start of the pandemic, detected in a study the circulation in the country of five genetic variants and six mutation patterns of SARS-CoV-2, among them the South African and British, considered highly contagious.
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