Warning: Lookout for COVID-19 ‘storm’

Director of the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) Dr Carissa Etienne is appealing to the private sector in the region to play a greater role in assisting countries in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The PAHO official said she expected COVID-19 cases to intensify “in the next few weeks” and countries should therefore move urgently to protect health workers, families and communities before the “storm” hits most of our countries.

“COVID-19 is yet to hit with full force in our region, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean,” she warned.

“The cost of inaction has never been greater. We need immediate action to address both short-term and long-term needs,” said Etienne.

She said there was a dire need to expand ICU capacity in the region in the short-term.

“[For] the long-term we need to plan now to guarantee that drugs and vaccines that are being developed are accessible to all in our region especially in the most vulnerable communities,” she said.

Etienne said the private sector should be an integral part of the response to COVID-19, and she called on that grouping to help resolve the most immediate challenge facing the region.

“That is the access to quality, affordable COVID-19 test kits and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). I want to make a special appeal for the rapid test that we can have rapid test of high quality and sufficient quantity to address the needs of this pandemic,” said Etienne.

“I wish also to ask the private sector to please work with governments to make available the resources that you have at your disposal to support the response. And finally to the private sector, as the pandemic proceeds and millions are economically impacted, I would like you to work with our partners and with governments to strengthen the safety nets for all and in particular the most vulnerable,” she pleaded.

Etienne further insisted: “A person’s health coverage should not depend on whether she or he has a job. Access to health services for the family and community should not depend on the economic status of the family or that community. We need the might of the private sector if we are going to effectively address COVID-19.”

The PAHO official said physical distancing remained “our best bet” to reduce transmission and slow the spread of the virus, adding that this prevents hospitals from being overwhelmed and keeps doctors and nurses from having to make a terrible choice about which patients receive care and which do not.

She said following the period of physical distancing any attempt to transition to more flexible measures should be taken with extreme caution.

Such decisions, said Etienne, should always be informed by disease transmission patterns, by COVID-19 testing availability and contact tracing capacity, the availability of hospital beds, among other criteria.

“Social distancing needs to be accompanied by comprehensive social support measures to ensure the most vulnerable can comply without risk to their livelihoods. This will require an adequate national and local logistical capacity to ensure the delivery of medicines, tests, food and other supplies for all populations,” she said.

Etienne also warned that countries should not expect economic activity to return in full swing unless people feel safe and confident that governments were doing all they could to protect them.

“I urge the leadership in our region to earn this confidence by being rigorous, evidence-driven and transparent in the fight against this pandemic,” she said.