As I predicted over a month ago, the first week in February is finally showing clear signs that Peru may be reaching a peak in the current second wave. The problem is what effect more contagious variants from the UK and especially Brazil might be having that could throw everything out the window.
Hospitalizations have finally stopped rising at such a frightening rate, but continue to go up. Hospitals currently have about three times the COVID patients as they had just six weeks ago.
The number of patients in ICU care has remained fairly level simply because ICU units across the country are full or nearly full. The increase is due to some hospitals adding new ICU beds in recent days to handle the overwhelming demand.
The positivity rate of testing remains extremely high which means COVID continues to cover the country, but it still appears to be starting to level off around 17.5% despite a huge one day spike last Sunday that skews the chart.
As horrifying as the number of 180 deaths a day means when you think about the families of those who are losing so many loved ones, this is one area that has surprisingly leveled off for nearly two weeks. Hopefully, the next week will start to see a drop, but based on hospitalizations and especially full ICU units still remaining high, I think it’s probably going to take more time.
Sadly, much of this could have been avoided if people would follow the simple steps promoted since the first day of Peru’s State of Emergency: wear a mask and social distance from others.
Nothing is more disgusting than expats who openly promote anti-masks policies based on nothing but ignorance. (Sorry, YouTube videos are not how real scientists publish their studies. They use scientific research journals which require reading and critical thinking.)
Yesterday I saw one foreigner sitting in the middle of Cusco’s Plaza de Armas without a mask in sight. He didn’t care on bit. Every single person in the Plaza was wearing a mask, but not this asshole who seemed oblivious as people with children and elderly Peruvians changed their path to give this POS a wide berth.
The day before I met another expat who said he’d lived here for 8 years. He was walking down a main pedestrian thoroughfare not wearing a mask while eating an ice cream. He made a special point to let me know that he didn’t believe in masks. (Anyone who thinks COVID gives a damn about what you “believe” instead of science is equally ignorant or, even worse, just plain selfish.) He could have stopped and sat down on a bench away from people to eat, but he chose to walk through the crowds seemingly to show off his stupid “belief” while possibly infecting dozens.
Cusco in particular has a strong anti-mask, ant-vaccine, anti-law community that actively promotes law breaking. I still remember the person who, a couple of weeks, said he’s “bitch slap” someone who told him to wear a mask.
Of course, there was the restaurant owner in Pisac who actively promoted anti-masks policies across multiple Facebook groups. I wonder how many people got sick or possibly even died because of him and those like him?
To many, all that matters is making money. They don’t care one bit about killing citizens of the country who graciously allowed them to enter and start a new life.
Now the anti-vaccine community is starting to crank up. Who needs evidence or facts when you have social media or YouTube videos. I’ve seen pure, 100% fake information being spread online by people who apparently have never read a real scientific research report. The sad part is, like the anti-mask crowd, all they are doing is causing people to die who don’t have to.
At this point, if anyone really has any doubt about the need for mask wearing, here’s a ton of real scientific evidence.
