Gabriel Araujo. Steven Grattan.

SAO PAULO, Reuters -COVID-19 has been on the rise in Americas since many countries abandoned social distancing measures and masking.

According to PAHO, cases in Americas rose 27.2% from last week. This was primarily due to an increase in infection rates in the United States.

North America accounted for more than 50% of the total 918k infections. The number of U.S. patients rose by 33%, to 605,000 over the week. The number of infections in North America has been increasing for seven consecutive weeks.

Dr. Carissa Etien, PAHO Director, stated that many nations and local governments have abandoned measures to defend against the virus. She also noted that borders were reopened after periods of low transmission.

“Masking, social distancing, and other measures have worked well ever since the beginning of the pandemic. They are still valid ways to reduce virus transmission,” she stated. She also said governments should be prepared to expand these policies whenever there is an increase or decrease in deaths.

PAHO expressed concern that there are too many people at risk. Only 14 of 51 Americas countries and territories have achieved the World Health Organization target of 70% vaccinations.

PAHO stated that COVID-19-related deaths and new infections have been steadily increasing in the area over the past 4 weeks. Last week, there were more than 3,500 reported fatalities.

The largest increase in infections was seen in Central America, where cases rose by almost 80%. Brazil is the country with the highest number of people, and infections rose by 9% to 112,000.

These numbers are alarming and it is time for us to act. Etienne stated that COVID has been on the rise again in America. The truth is that this virus won’t disappear anytime soon.