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Colombia this Friday exceeded 25,000 deaths confirmed by the new coronavirus in 203 days since the first case, according to the Ministry of Health. This is a figure comparable to the deaths left by the Armero tragedy and that accounts for the impact of the pandemic in the country.
(You may be interested: There are more than 25 thousand deaths from covid-19; recovered reach 687,477)
This figure places Colombia as the 11th country with the most confirmed deaths from this cause, in a list led by the United States (more than 207,741), Brazil (139,883), India (92,587), Mexico (75,439) and the United Kingdom (41,902). ), according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
Colombia was also very close to the 800,000 confirmed cases of Sars-CoV-2, ahead of Peru in this indicator, and it became the fifth most affected country in the world, which, it is worth saying, adds 31.6 million positive diagnoses for this virus, according to PAHO. Ahead were until Thursday, in order, the United States (7’194.493 cases), India (5’843.349), Brazil (4’659.909) and Russia (1’136.048).
(Also read: What is the West Nile virus, which causes concern in Spain?)
However, When analyzing the most important indicators that the covid-19 has left in Colombia compared to other nations in rates per million inhabitants collected by www.worldometers.info, the panorama looks more benign. For example, in terms of deaths, the country drops to 17th place with 489, half of Peru (which is second in the world in this indicator with 966 per million inhabitants) and below Spain (665), Brazil (657 ), Chile (654), Ecuador (633) and the United States (627).
When reviewing the list of countries with more cases per million inhabitants, Colombia is in 19th place, with 15,504, well below others such as Panama (25,108), Peru (23,851), Chile (23,695), Brazil (21,886) and the United States (21,706).
Y although Colombia has performed more than 3.5 million diagnostic tests, lags far behind in the indicator for every million inhabitants, in 95th place, with 69,295, says worldometers.info. To contextualize, it should be mentioned that the United Kingdom, for example, has carried out 336,930 tests on this indicator, Spain 252,796, Italy 180,259, Chile 164,497, Peru 114,235, Panama 104,822 and Brazil 84,072.
(You may be interested in: Covid: they would deliberately infect volunteers to test vaccines)
Another key data is that the 84,073 active cases that Colombia has represent 1 percent of those registered in the world (7.5 million).
Facing the region
It is known that the pandemic has different times depending on the region. Europe first felt the severity of the virus and today faces a second wave. South America has barely fallen from its first peak except in Argentina, where it continues to rise. In that sense, it is worth comparing how Colombia is compared to its neighbors.
In total, the 10 South American countries considered by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) add up to 7.7 million cases. Brazil registers 4.6 million of those (60.23%) and Colombia 784,268 until Thursday, September 24 (10.21%). Peru has a similar percentage of infections, which totaled 782,700 (10.19%).
(It may be of interest to you: The world is close to reaching one million deaths from coronavirus)
On the side of deaths, South America had reported 242,700 (almost one in four of those in the world) as of Thursday. More than half of them (139,000) were presented in Brazil. In absolute numbers are followed by Peru, with 31,900 (13.13%); and Colombia, with 24,700 (10.19%).
Analysis of the Colombian case
EL TIEMPO consulted experts to analyze the evolution of the pandemic in the country. Julio Castellanos, director of Hospital San Ignacio, makes it clear that when comparing Colombia with the world there are two balances. The country has four times more deaths per million inhabitants than the general figures for the planet (489 versus 126) and 3.7 times more cases at this rate (15,504 versus 4,138). However, the lethality of the virus worldwide (3%) is very similar to that registered in the national territory (3.16%).
“Only at the end of the pandemic can we establish better balance sheets. Our behavior has generated many cases, but the measures have allowed us to control it with reasonable indicators. It is not time for celebrations but to keep guard with the measures. Although we are doing well, we are still missing and we cannot lose what we have achieved ”, he said.
(Read on: Russia says it will supply Colombia with its drug against covid-19)
Luis Jorge Hernández, doctor of public health, says that the 25,000 dead confirm the pandemic as “a true disaster, but it could have been worse and this was avoided”. And forward he comments that the second wave “is going to be weaker.”
Gabriel Riveros, former Minister of Health, affirms that “the actions and decisions taken in a timely manner by the authorities in the process were correct and well supported with respect to the film we were seeing from countries that began earlier in the pandemic.” “For the second wave we see the need to insist on the responsibility of people in their self-care,” he concludes.
HEALTH UNIT
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