Uruguay has reported 20 daily coronavirus deaths, the lowest figure in three months

Uruguay recorded 20 deaths from the coronavirus this Sunday, the lowest figure since March 29, reaching a total of 5,494 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to the daily toll of the National Emergency System (Sinae).

In addition, 1,027 new cases of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus were detected after 9,997 tests were performed.

With this information, Uruguay adds 365,866 cases since the start of the health emergency, which was declared in the country on March 13, 2020, including 17,878 people studying the disease, 308 of them admitted to intensive treatment centers (ICS).

In addition, the country is in the red zone according to the Harvard index, by accumulating more than 25 cases per 100,000 population in the last seven days.

Last Monday, the museums were reopened, closed since March 23, and more than 70,000 students returned to Montevideo and Canelones (south), with which ended all the return to primary education and the hopes that high schools (secondary) can do in July, favored by vaccination among adolescents.

Also, last Friday it was announced the return of public performances, cinemas, parties and social events with similar characteristics. It will be from July 5 in 16 of the 19 departments of the country, while in Montevideo, Canelones (south) and Maldonado (south-east) it will take effect 10 days later.

In addition, the country’s borders continue to be closed to non-residents, except for diplomatic, personal or economic and professional reasons, with the express permission of the Executive.

Regarding vaccination, and according to the web monitor developed by the Ministry of Public Health (MSP) until 6:20 p.m. (9:20 p.m. GMT) this Sunday, 644,134 people have been vaccinated with the first dose from Chinese pharmaceutical companies Coronavac, Anglo-Swedish AstraZeneca and American Pfizer, while 1,564,616 (44.17% of the population) have already completed the vaccination schedule with Pfizer or Coronavac.

For their part, last Friday, authorities reported that They will once again strengthen the conditions for entry into their territory in the face of the threat posed by the Delta variant of the new coronavirus, of which no case has yet been recorded in the country to date.

Now, people who have been vaccinated or have had the disease within 90 days of entering the country must be carried out “a PCR test 72 hours before boarding then another on the seventh day of the first test, or failing that, keep isolation for 14 days”, said the Minister of Public Health, Daniel Salinas, during a press conference.

“It is not necessary (to do) a quarantine (of seven days) but it is responsible for waiting for the result” of the PCR, he said. Immunized people had been exempt from measures since May 19.

Meanwhile, those who do not have a vaccine will continue with the same admission with negative PCR, quarantine for 7 days with new PCR or isolation for 14 days.

The new measures are “to adapt to the issue of the Delta variant,” said Salinas, who called for taking “with realism” the scenario of this or other tensions that may arise in the future, “because they are going to enter the country somehow. ” .

“We must be vigilant, be proactive, but not dramatize the situation,” he said.

First identified in India, where it began to spread in April, the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 is present in at least 85 countries and threatens to cause a new global wave of the virus.

Faced with this seer, in Uruguay once again the concern is centered on the dry border with Brazil, in particular at the crossroads of the towns Rivera-Santana do Livramento, where a large number of refugees are also entering.

In this context, “it is very important to have established a refugee center” in this area, said the secretary of the presidency, lvaro Delgado, at the conference.

“Uruguay has an agreement with the UNHCR, it is a friendly country for refugees, most of them without papers and without a peso in their pockets. It has increased dramatically lately. The entry route is this dry border, ”he explained.

These migrants, mostly Venezuelans, Colombians and Cubans who cross all of Brazil and enter Uruguay as refugees under international agreements, were received in a temporary center which will now be permanent.

In addition to getting food, hygiene and health care, There they will be swabbed and, if they are positive, this is where they will have to quarantine.

“And anyone who tests positive will have genomic studies done to be sure which type of strain is the one that generates the positivity in the PCR test”, to strengthen follow-up and “Have guarantees with the Uruguayan population”Delgado reported.

Likewise, the documentation will be quickly activated for them to be vaccinated.

The authorities in turn reported the arrival in July of 500,000 doses of Pfizer donated by the United States. Uruguay thus becomes one of the first beneficiaries of the donation of 14 million doses that Washington has decided to allocate to Latin American countries through the Covax program.

The country of 3.5 million people which went through the worst time of the pandemic in April and May with world records of infections and deaths is now seeing an improvement in numbers thanks to an intense vaccination campaign.

62% of the population received at least one of the two doses of Pfizer, CoronaVac or Astrazenca and 43% have the full regimen.

With information from EFE and AFP

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