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Health Min: Downward trend in COVID-19 observed in Peru

Photo: ANDINA/Ministry of Health of Peru

Photo: ANDINA/Ministry of Health of Peru

02:10 | Lima, May. 13.

The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru shows a downward trend in important indicators, such as the percentage of new infections per week, the number of positive cases recorded per day, and the daily death toll, Health Minister Oscar Ugarte has reported.

"There is a trend towards a decline in three indicators: the percentage of infections —and this is confirmed by the tests conducted on a daily basis, which are assessed week after week— the daily cases, and the decline in the daily death toll," Ugarte explained.
 
However, "none of this leads us to lower our guard or to adopt an overly optimistic stance. We do observe a positive trend, and we hope that this will be confirmed in the coming weeks," he emphasized.

According to the health sector's head, "all we can do is wait until this favorable trend results in a significant reduction in the occupancy of hospital beds and, particularly, in the occupancy of ICU beds."

Vaccination process

Speaking from the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Ugarte highlighted the immunization process as another key aspect in the fight against the pandemic. In this context, he welcomed the increase in the number of people vaccinated throughout the country.

The government official highlighted, on the one hand, the vaccination progress on a national scale —with all regions protecting their priority population— and, on the other hand, the age-group based vaccination, adding that the startup of the immunization of people over 60 will be announced soon.

"This is positive on the road to vaccination. Besides, we are taking care of very vulnerable groups of people with comorbidities and, therefore, the immunization of people with Down syndrome started on Tuesday; on Wednesday, we initiated the vaccination of patients undergoing hemodialysis, simultaneously," he added.

(END) CCH/RMB/MVB

Published: 5/13/2021