Ecuador registers 5 deaths by delta variant according to the Ministry of Public Health (MSP). Three who died in El Oro and two in Guayaquil.
All are from El Oro; one of them is a 40-year-old woman, who, according to the mayor of the Santa Rosa canton, Larry Vite, passed away a week ago.
Due to the confirmation of the delta variant, the National COE announced the review of biosecurity measures, especially in El Oro and Guayas; asked to avoid crowds, parties and very high capacity.
The situation caused doubts among the public, regarding whether the vaccines that are applied in Ecuador, Sinovac, Pfizer and AstraZeneca, protect against this variant. At the moment the 9/100 vaccination plan is in phase 3 “Minor Contagion, and has 5’786,147 doses applied.
According to doctors and experts, the country’s main shield is the immunization of the population. Biosafety measures, such as the use of a mask, distancing and hand washing, must be maintained, they warn.
The first scientific studies prove that vaccines such as AstraZeneca and Pfizer cover severe disease in the case of the delta variant, while Sinovac also shows effective coverage. The studies are being developed, explained the pulmonologist doctor Iván Chérrez.
According to the doctors, the arrival of the delta variant was expected, as well as the others that arrived at the time. But this time it is necessary that, already counting on the vaccines, “accelerated” vaccination days be developed in an “urgent” way; that is, in an open way to immunize the greatest number of people, at least in Guayas and El Oro.
It has been proven that the strain is highly contagious, which is why vaccination becomes key at this time in Ecuador, especially in Guayaquil, which is in phase 1 and in a month of much commercial activity due to its founding celebrations, the doctor warned intensivist Alberto Campodónico.
The specialists consider that it is better to resume measures that contain the massive mobilization of people and that, after having immunized the majority of people with the two doses of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine, the measures can be “loosen” a little.
Guayaquil, which is in phase 1, currently maintains the figure of 2.1 positive cases of COVID-19 per 10,000 inhabitants, in addition to the fact that the occupancy of ICU COVID-19 beds remains at 75% in public and private hospitals, reported the director of the Technical Board of Health, the epidemiologist Carlos Farhat.
A vulnerable group for this type of variant are young people who are not yet immunized and are going out to share with their friends, warned Dr. Jorge Luis Portes. “The problem is that they drink from the same glass in those meetings, they are together without a mask and all that affects, because they can be infected and they go home with the virus, and thus they infect their family to people who are already older,” he said.
He insisted that vaccination is key, at this time, to avoid more cases of the variant that worries the entire community.
It is necessary to be more careful before this variant; prevention is better than increasing the number of deaths that are already reported, warned the Guayas Medical Association. Among the recommendations given by the doctors are that the curfew be resumed on weekends, restricted mobility and prohibition on weekends.
Peak and plate in the city and in spas on weekends, is another requested measure. Also that parties and social gatherings with more than ten people are prohibited. A limited capacity with 50%. Not to classes or face-to-face work, for the moment.
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