Peru is going through a slow and progressive descent of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, said Health Minister Victor Zamora in an interview with El Peruano official gazette.
"When the epidemic began, there were only 100 ICU beds. Today the number has increased to 1,300, and the aim is to have 2,000. It was not easy to achieve these goals, we have accomplished them thanks to the efforts of the
Social Health Insurance System (EsSalud), the
Ministry of Health (Minsa), the Armed forces, and the
National Police, which under the motto 'Health Unites Us' have made progress day after day providing more and better services," he noted.
According to the government official, Lima —which has 80% of the country's coronavirus cases— has already reduced the R factor below one.
"This has been slowly but steadily decreasing for almost two weeks. This is very encouraging, because it suggests that we can reopen economic activities with a certain sense of calm," the minister said.
"The overall result, taking into consideration the different regions in the country, is that Peru is going through a slow and progressive descent in the pandemic," he added.
Invisible and deadly enemy
Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) or the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). These viruses can be transmitted between animals and people.
The
novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is a new strain that had not been previously identified in humans. It is transmitted from human to human through respiratory droplets from coughing and sneezing. COVID-19 is also transmitted by close contact with people infected by the virus.
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Published: 6/23/2020