Latin America & The Caribbean – Weekly Situation Update (28 September – 4 October 2020) As of 5 October 2020 – Guatemala – ReliefWeb

KEY FIGURES

9.6M CONFIRMED COVID-19 CASES IN LATIN AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN AS OF 4 OCTOBER

REGIONAL: COVID-19

Cases are referenced from PAHO/WHO 4 October COVID-19 Report - https://bit.ly/2O25YQw

As of 4 October, there are 9,632,733 cases and 353,224 in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as 8,026,309 recovered cases.

KEY FIGURES

189.9K CONFIRMED CASES IN TRIPLE BORDER AREA BETWEEN COLOMBIA, BRAZIL AND PERU

553: 7-DAY AVERAGE OF NEW CASES IN GUATEMALA AS STATE OF EXCEPTION ENDS ON 5 OCTOBER

LATIN AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN: COVID-19

AMAZON TRIPLE BORDER

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disproportionately affect remote communities along the shared Amazon triple border area between Brazil, Colombia and Peru, where some 57 per cent of the population are indigenous peoples. As of 2 October, there are 189,914 confirmed cases between the Amazonas and Tabatinga states in Brazil (136,400 cases and 1,800 cases respectively), the 8,860 cases among indigenous communities in Peru and the 2,700 cases reported in the Amazonas department in Colombia.

While the UN in the three countries issued an Action Plan to respond to needs in this sub-region and mobilize resources to bolster response beyond initial actions backed by reprogrammed funding, implementation remains challenging. The triple border areas in each country are some of the most difficult to access. Moreover, there are growing security concerns stemming from criminal activity in two border provinces in the Peruvian department of Loreto and the recent killing of a Loreto health centre director in Tabatinga across the border in Brazil.

GUATEMALA

Guatemala will not seek to extend their state of calamity past its 5 October end date, allowing Guatemalans to resume various activities under restricted gathering sizes. The state of calamity, in effect since March after Guatemala reported their first case, allowed authorities to implement various restrictions to curb the spread of the virus. The Government is working to determine normative, operational and logistical frameworks for managing the COVID-19 pandemic after the extension runs its course.

The Presidential COVID-19 Commission (COPRECOVID) advisory group, who fears that many are perceiving the pandemic is over, is urging the public to take personal responsibility in tackling the virus, warning of a second wave similar to countries in Europe who relaxed initial emergency measures after managing their initial outbreak.

THE CARIBBEAN

The Heads of government of the Organization Eastern of Caribbean States (OECS) are working with officials from major tourism source markets and service providers to establish a rigorous testing regime that would allow only COVID-free travellers to board flights and ships, removing the need for quarantine upon arrival. This could potentially expedite humanitarian access in the event of an emergency that may require international deployment, which has thus far been limited since the onset of the pandemic.

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Latin America & The Caribbean - Weekly Situation Update (28 September - 4 October 2020) As of 5 October 2020 - Guatemala - ReliefWeb