News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Weds. Nov. 17, 2021: One Caribbean country is seeing a sharp spike in deaths from the dreaded COVID-19 virus, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said today.
Trinidad and Tobago has seen a sharp rise in deaths as intensive care unit (ICU) beds fill with COVID-19 patients, PAHO said. T&T’s death toll is now 1,885 . Fifteen new deaths were reported on Tuesday lone. The cases of infections stand at 63,084 with 7,171 listed as active cases.
There are 414 additional covid19 cases as of Tuesday afternoon, from samples taken between November 11 and 15. This is the highest number of cases since the 535 reported on November 12th.
As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 461 covid19 patients warded in hospitals, with 86 at the Couva Hospital and Multi-Training Facility.
The total number of people who received the first shot of a two-dose vaccine are 633,715; 590,144 people have received their second dose; and 39,237 people have received their only shot of a single-dose vaccine.
Meanwhile, overall, in the Americas, COVID-19 deaths have decreased 17% in the past week. However, the most populous countries like the United States, Brazil and Colombia are seeing a leveling of new infections after weeks of declining trends, PAHO said.
Countries across Central and South America have seen a decline in new infections, except for Bolivia, it said.
Additionally, half of the people in Latin America and the Caribbean have now been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, though coverage remains below 10% in Nicaragua and Haiti, PAHO Director Carissa Etienne said.
Mexico is, like T&T, reporting an increase in new deaths as Uruguay and Chile have relaxed pandemic restrictions, COVID-19 cases have spiked, even with their high vaccination coverage, the health agency said.
“The COVID pandemic is still very active in our region,” Etienne warned in a webcast news conference.
Etienne urged people in the region to get vaccinated and stick to social distancing and mask wearing as the holiday season approaches.
*Reuters News contributed to this story.
