Efforts to ensure that Latin American and Caribbean countries are ready for laboratory diagnosis of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) continued this week with training in Mexico City, organized by the Pan American Organization for Health (OPS) and the Institute of Epidemiological Diagnosis and Reference of the Mexican Ministry of Health (InDRE) for the benefit of virologists from 6 Central American countries : Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua, as well than Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

During the training, which was held at the InDRE National Influenza Center (NIC) and led by experts from PAHO, participants were trained in the main tests and protocols to detect and diagnose COVID-19 using molecular technology. The training was also attended by virologists from Baja California public health laboratories, Jalisco and Quintana Roo to increase and expand Mexico's response capacity. Participants also received diagnostic equipment necessary to test the disease, including primers, probes and positive controls.

"Preparing laboratories to perform early diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 in a safe environment is essential to ensuring that countries can respond quickly and effectively," said Cristian Morales, PAHO/WHO Representative in Mexico.

The training organized in Mexico is the latest in a series of sessions which will guarantee that 29 laboratories (including the National Public Health Laboratory (LNSP) of Haiti) will be ready to detect COVID-19 in the Region by 21 February 2020, the American Atlanta CDC serving as a regional reference laboratory.

Last week, PAHO conducted training in Brazil for 9 South American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay), as well as in Venezuela.

Training has also taken place in the Caribbean, including Suriname, Barbados, Haiti https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-30015-icihaiti-health-haiti-now-has-the-means-to-detect-the-new-coronavirus-covid-19.html , to Jamaica and Dominica. This will continue in the sub-region next week with laboratory training in the Bahamas and Guyana. The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) has also informed that its laboratory is ready to respond to the new coronavirus, and the Institut Pasteur in Guyana is also operational to support surveillance in the French Caribbean territories.

COVID-19 Global assessment February 15 :

Sunday February 16, 2020, the number of people infected worldwide with the Coronavirus COVID-19 (laboratory and clinical confirmed cases) amounted to 69,261, an increase of 2,170 cases, however less than the previous day https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30034-haiti-news-zapping.html ; 1,669 deaths (+ 9.3%), 142 more than the day before (1,527); 9,687 people healed, i.e. 1,190 people (+ 14%) more than the day before (5.8 times more healing than death compared to 5.5 times the day before).

To date, there have been 756 confirmed infected people outside China, or 161 more than the previous day (+ 27%), including 67 new cases aboard the cruise ship "Diamond Princess" in quarantine off Japan.

Number of deaths abroad (4): 1 in the Philippines, 1 in Hong Kong, 1 in Japan and 1 in France.

See also :

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-30015-icihaiti-health-haiti-now-has-the-means-to-detect-the-new-coronavirus-covid-19.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30010-haiti-flash-coronavirus-the-number-of-infected-and-deaths-explodes-in-24-hours.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29955-haiti-health-surveillance-measures-are-deployed-in-the-country-s-ports-and-airports.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29950-haiti-flash-the-ministry-asks-the-hospitals-of-the-country-to-prepare-for-the-coronavirus.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-29947-icihaiti-dr-towards-the-establishment-of-a-sanitary-cordon-at-the-border.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29926-haiti-news-zapping.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29923-haiti-coronavirus-emergency-meeting-of-caribbean-health-ministers.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29919-haiti-flash-chinese-banned-to-go-out-of-a-plane-to-port-au-prince.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29879-haiti-health-chinese-coronavirus-the-ministry-of-health-is-reassuring.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29858-haiti-flash-chinese-coronavirus-haiti-is-preparing-and-activating-its-alert-system.html

HL/ HaitiLibre