KEY FIGURES

4.3M CONFIRMED COVID-19 CASES IN LATIN AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN AS OF 26 JULY

REGIONAL: COVID-19

As of 26 July, PAHO/WHO report 4,348,767 and 182,827 deaths in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as 2,832,380 recovered cases.

PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT NEEDS GROWING

PAHO expects psychosocial support needs for women and children to grow as the risks of violence and deteriorating mental health amid the COVID-19 crisis continue to escalate.

PAHO stresses that mental health is receiving inadequate attention from public health systems, citing datathat shows that the average public expenditure on mental health is only 2 per cent of the total health budget.Prior to the pandemic, women in the Americas were already 50 per cent more likely than men to suffer depression disorders and twice as likely to develop anxiety disorders.

In addition to creating higher levels of stress and anxiety in women, the Organization of American States (OAS) Inter-American Commission of Women says that confinement has increased social gaps, as women in the region are assuming caregiver roles and paid and unpaid domestic work.

KEY FIGURES

54.2% GROWTH IN CASES IN MEXICO FROM 1-20 JULY, DOWN FROM 93.2 FROM 1-20 JUNE

CENTRAL AMERICA & MEXICO: COVID-19

HONDURAS

The Government launched a national response scale-up programme to increase the number of triage centres and medical teams in all 298 municipalities. The programme, which will begin its funding roll out to 12 priority municipalities, is allocating US$18 million to support the installation of triage centres, hiring additional medical personnel, strengthen regional hospitals and help medical teams respond door-to-door.

MEXICO

The Ministry of Health reports that the pace of the national case growth is slowing down as the jump in newdaily cases is becoming proportionately smaller. The Health Ministrys epidemiology lead noted that case growth has decreased from 1.9 per cent to 1.5 per cent in two weeks. The Ministry official also indicated that total cases increased by 54.5 per cent in the first 20 days of July, compared to a growth of 93.2 per cent in the first 20 days of June.

The Ministry also reports that case numbers for Mexico City and the states of Mexico, Baja California, Chiapas, Michoacn and Sinaloa have been stabilizing over the past three weeks.

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Latin America & The Caribbean - Weekly Situation Update (20-26 July 2020) As of 26 July 2020 - Barbados - ReliefWeb