MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Paraguayan experts call for action against Covid-19

“Right now we have a Covid epidemic,” Cabello said

Paraguay's Director General of Health Surveillance, Águeda Cabello, this week echoed a recommendation by the country's leading physicians to wear face masks in healthcare facilities as the number of Covid-19 cases is reported to be on the rise.

Cabello insisted that masks have never been discouraged, but under the current circumstances, it is appropriate to emphasize the importance of such a preventive measure to reduce the spread of respiratory diseases.

“We need to prevent health workers from getting sick,” Cabello stressed. “If we have an overload of patients and fewer doctors, we will have problems in the service,” she added.

Paraguay is currently registering not only a sharp increase in Covid-19 infections but also a steady rise in cases of dengue. With the simultaneous incidence of these two diseases around 80% of the country's hospital beds are taken.

The official emphasized that the use of face masks is limited to health facilities and does not include the rest of Paraguayan society. “Right now we have a Covid epidemic and we need to reduce the impact on services,” she stressed.

Cabello's predecessor, Guillermo Sequera, noted that 15 deaths have been recorded since the dengue epidemic began in September. He also explained that it is not easy to stop dengue epidemics once they start, and predicted that, with the addition of Covid-19, it will be a tough challenge for the current authorities.

Sequera also said in an interview that the current scenario was similar to last year's outbreak of the Omicron variant in January, which lasted for a month and then began to decline. The expert believed the reason for this was the season's migratory movement as new variants hit the northern hemisphere. “Now there is no syncytial virus, influenza, what we have is Covid-19 and dengue that is being added,” he said while pointing out that the protection of the vaccines lasts about six months with the last campaign dating back to around April last year, “so we are seeing a resurgence now” that the new variants Eris and Pirola are appearing in neighboring countries. He also foresaw that in a few more days there would be news in Paraguay.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 10,000 people died from Covid-19 worldwide last month as a result of year-end gatherings, as Pirola became the leading strain worldwide.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said nearly 10,000 deaths were reported in December, while hospital admissions during the month jumped 42% in nearly 50 countries, mostly in Europe and the Americas.

“Although 10,000 deaths per month is far lower than the peak of the pandemic, this level of preventable deaths is unacceptable,” Ghebreyesus said, urging governments to maintain surveillance and ensure continued access to treatment and vaccines.

Tedros also explained that Pirola was an Omicron subvariant, so current vaccines should still provide some protection.

“We expect those trends to continue into January through the winter months in the northern hemisphere,” said WHO leading researcher Maria van Kerkhove this week. “We are seeing co-circulation of many different types of pathogens,” she added.

WHO officials recommend that people get vaccinated when possible, wear masks, and make sure indoor areas are well ventilated.

“The vaccines may not stop you from being infected, but the vaccines are certainly reducing significantly your chance of being hospitalized or dying,” said Michael Ryan, head of emergencies at WHO.