The
Ministry of Health (Minsa), through the National Center for Epidemiology, Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), on Tuesday announced that the fifth wave of COVID-19 has come to an end in Peru.
In this regard,
CDC Director Cesar Munayco said that
319,212 confirmed cases and 1,932 deaths —with a fatality rate of 0.61 deaths for every 100 confirmed cases, down compared to previous waves — have been reported from epidemiological week (EW) 42, 2022 (the beginning of the fifth wave) to epidemiological week 6, 2023.
Likewise, the Minsa states that a downward trend has been observed since EW 48, with 30.6% fewer confirmed cases compared to EW 47, 2022.
During the fifth wave, the most affected population group was the elderly, with 1.52 cases per 100 inhabitants, with a fatality rate of 2.35 deaths per 100 confirmed cases.
In this regard, Munayco explained that the trend of confirmed COVID-19 cases, deaths, and hospitalizations has remained below the period between waves for more than 4 weeks, meeting the criteria used by the CDC to announce the end of a wave.
"The pandemic is in transition to an endemic phase, which means there could be slight increases in cases related to low temperatures and the emergence of new sub-lineages of the Omicron variant," Munayco stated.
Finally, the head of the CDC pointed out that, in this scenario, it is important to be prepared for possible increases in cases that could occur in the following months.
For this reason, the Minsa insists on the need to increase vaccination coverage in the population and adoption of preventive measures such as the wearing of face masks in closed or poorly ventilated places.
(END) NDP/LIT/RMB
Published: 2/14/2023