Peru's Prime Minister: We continue fighting COVID-19

"It does not mean that we have defeated COVID-19; we must continue fighting, we can't have a triumphalist mentality as the pandemic has not been defeated yet; the entire population must be careful and comply with measures such as social distancing and hand washing," he expressed.

Within this framework, the Cabinet chief affirmed that the Executive Branch will continue fighting the virus at the national level and increasing the hospital response to serve infected citizens.

Likewise, the government official said that the recent decrease in the number of deaths was —apparently— due to the containment measures that the Government implemented through the Territorial Aid Operation for Treatment and Isolation in Response to COVID-19 (Tayta Operation). It allows diagnosing the infected citizens, as well as delivering medicines and food supplies to ensure their social isolation.

Furthermore, he commented that in the northern city of Cajamarca there was a large number of infections. In fact, between 16 and 17 people passed away on some days.

However, the Tayta mega-operation reached out to 22,000 people, who were provided early treatment and isolation. Therefore, he said, the number of deaths has dropped to between 2 to 3 per day.

Regarding the COVID-19 vaccine, the Prime Minister indicated that the country relies on several channels to guarantee access to it —namely through the World Health Organization (WHO) via the COVAX Facility initiative, in addition to bilateral negotiations with laboratories.

Moreover, Martos said that 

Sinopharm's vaccine clinical trials will kick off on September 8 supported by 6,000 Peruvian volunteers. The corresponding registration has already begun.

For their part, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine trials will begin on September 11, with 4,000 fellow citizens.

Lastly, he noted that Peru has also reached agreements with a British laboratory and others, which will allow the immunization of 70% of the population once the vaccine is approved.