Thread by @pahowho

🚨🔊#PAHO Press Briefing on #COVID19🦠in the Americas 🌎 August 4, 2021📣 twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…

Over the last week, more than 1.2 million COVID-19 🦠 cases and 20,000 COVID-related deaths were reported in the Americas 🌎

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

COVID infections 🦠 are accelerating in North America, driven primarily by a surge in cases in the southern and eastern United States 🇺🇸 and in central Mexico 🇲🇽

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

In Central America, Guatemala 🇬🇹 is reporting a rise 📈 in COVID infections, particularly among people younger than 50 👩🏾‍🦱👨🏻‍🦱👩🏻🧑🏿‍🦲

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

Cases are also on the rise 📈 in the Caribbean, where Cuba, Martinique, and the British Virgin Islands are continuing to see an increase in new cases 🦠

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

Meanwhile, cases are dropping across South America, although some Brazilian states have seen an increase ⬆️ in infections.

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This underscores that, until we 👉🏼 effectively contain transmission, infections 🦠 can surge quickly.

So masks 😷, social distancing 🚹⬅️➡️🚺, and other public health measures remain crucial.

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

Unfortunately, this week we also mark another grim pandemic milestone: over 2️⃣ million people in the Americas 🌎 have died from COVID-19 complications.

That’s roughly the population of Houston, Texas.

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

This loss hangs heavy in our hearts and it is a distressing reminder that we must ➡️ act urgently to prevent further suffering.

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

While this pandemic has impacted all of us, today I want to spotlight 🔦 the challenges facing our indigenous communities.

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

The Americas 🌎 are home to more than 62 million indigenous peoples that represent a rich fabric of 🔸languages, 🔸cultures, and 🔸societies.

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

And while each group is unique, no matter where you look, our indigenous communities are more vulnerable to COVID infections 🦠

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

Nearly half of indigenous peoples live and work in urban centers 🌆 and travel back and forth to visit their families and communities.

Many of them live in communal societies that make practicing social distancing 🚺⬅️➡️🚹 and isolation very difficult.

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

Together, this frequent movement and gathering creates opportunities for COVID to spread 🦠

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

Although we lack robust data for all indigenous communities, based on the data we do have from countries like Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, at least 617,000 indigenous people have been infected with #COVID19 in the 🌎 ...

@DirOPSPAHO

... & nearly 15,000 have died from COVID complications since the start of the pandemic 🦠

It’s likely that many more have been infected, but we may not know it because they have struggled to get the COVID care 🩺 they deserve.

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

Many of our indigenous peoples live in remote and isolated areas where a clinic or a doctor 👩🏽‍⚕️ may be many kilometers or days away.

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

Even those who live in urban 🌇 centers still face invisible barriers – like language, stigma, and poverty – that can keep health care out of reach.

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

We’ve long said that the 🦠 has exacerbated inequalities in our 🌎

And this is especially true for our indigenous peoples, since most lack the financial and social safety nets to ensure they can continue to provide for their 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 & communities, even when they’re sick.

@DirOPSPAHO

As countries continue to be challenged by COVID-19 🦠, we call on them to prioritize the needs of our 👉🏼indigenous peoples.

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

We’re pleased to see that 17 countries across our region 🌎 have listed indigenous peoples as a priority group for COVID vaccinations 💉, and vaccination campaigns are already underway.

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

So far, more than 134,000 indigenous people have been fully vaccinated 💉 across Guatemala 🇬🇹 and more than 312,000 have completed their COVID-19 vaccinations in Brazil 🇧🇷

✳️ But we don’t have data from every country.

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

That’s why we urge countries 🌎 to collect more and better data to understand and resolve the challenges facing our indigenous groups.

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

Data are essential to guide effective policies. Too few countries 🌎 collect data on the pandemic’s impact across ethnic groups, leaving ministries of health blind to important and valuable trends on how the virus 🦠 is affecting our indigenous communities.

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

In places where there has been robust data, like Brazil 🇧🇷 and Colombia 🇨🇴, this has made all the difference in tailoring culturally adequate responses to the specific needs of indigenous groups.

❇️ This should be the rule, not the exception.

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

To adequately address the needs of our indigenous peoples, we must ensure that our strategies are designed by, for, and with the communities they are intended to serve.

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

Countries must engage indigenous groups as they design pandemic policies and adjust their COVID-19 🦠responses to ensure they align with their needs and customs.

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

PAHO has worked closely with organizations that represent indigenous groups in our 🌎 – like FILAC, the Fund for Development of Indigenous Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean, and @coicaorg, the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon River Basin –

to issue culturally appropriate recommendations to countries across our region.

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

PAHO has also been supporting a cross-border vaccination campaign to reach indigenous communities in the Amazonian regions of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, where we’ve seen the importance of intercultural dialogues to build support for COVID 💉

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

And finally, countries 🌎 must expand access to health 🩺, especially during a pandemic 🦠

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

Indigenous communities have long understood that the best way to provide care 🩺 is by making it available within communities, where it can reach the needs of more people, close to home.

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

As 🌎 expand their health care 🏥 capacity, they must ensure that health workers are sensitive to the needs and languages of our indigenous communities, & that they respect the tradition of ancestral medicine still practiced by many of our indigenous peoples

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

As we commemorate the upcoming World #IndigenousPeoplesDay (AUG 9), we are reminded that, for many of our indigenous peoples, the right to health 🩺 remains a promise unfulfilled.

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

As we continue to be challenged by the pandemic 🦠, we must ensure our responses and our COVID vaccination 💉 campaigns do not widen inequities that have long plagued our region.

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19

Instead, we must use this pandemic 🦠 as a lesson that we cannot afford to leave anyone behind.

@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19