tagacat

The Peruvian lockdown is one of the strictest in the world: leave home only for essentials (food, medicine, bank), no private cars, no regional nor international travel and two curfews: weekdays (between 6pm and 5am) and Saturday afternoon thru Monday morning (no one allowed out). The lockdown started mid march with ~50 confirmed cases, today we have ~35,000. Peruvian cases have not grown as quick as those in other hotspots of the pandemic (USA/Europe), but the lockdown has NOT flattened the curve. Every day/week there is more cases and a reduction in cases is not expected. About ~70% of the Peruvian economy is informal and many infection hotspots are where people meet and where social distancing is nearly impossible to maintain: markets, public transport, cues to get stimulus checks and in overcrowded jails. Now we have thousands walking out of Lima going to their original regions. Some 65% of infections are in Lima, and these stranded walkers will spread the virus more as quarantinin...

No politicen un virus! Todo diagnóstico necesita rapidez y precisión Explico diferencia entre moleculares y rápidas: Trabajé años en la casa matriz de la compañía diagnostica más grande del mundo. Muchas publicaciones omiten información y eso solo va causar pánico en la población: ¡lo último que queremos! La diferencia entre pruebas moleculares y rápidas es la tecnología (PCR y anticuerpos) y los workflows (lab testing, point of care) que dan diferente precisión y tiempos por capacidad. El sueño de cualquier profesional de salud para un diagnóstico es que sea rápido Y correcto (no y/o) Que estadísticas mira un profesional de salud en un diagnóstico: SENSIBILIDAD: positivos están realmente enfermos ESPECIFICIDAD: negativos están realmente sanos Explico ambos tests: LA PRUEBA MOLECULAR (laboratory testing, PCR): Se hace el hisopado al paciente Se transporta la muestra a un laboratorio especializado (pocos en Perú, largas distancias) La muestra se prepara y es analizada en una maquina co...

  The Peruvian government was the first and most drastic country in Latin America to fight the pandemic: a strict lockdown and the biggest economic stimulus plan of the region. But.. Peru is now the 2nd most affected country after Brazil. As you can see from the photo, the hard part has been the informal economy where most people work for their daily bread. Initially, the rich areas were the most affected (travelled to Europe)... now it is those poorer parts of Lima and remote regions. Prior to lockdown, government recommendations (distancing, canceling events) were even ignored by the richer educated. Thus the government enforced an emergency state lockdown: the rich areas now followed restrictions but many poor informal and uneducated areas have partly ignored with more than 50,000 people arrested. The virus was originally mainly focalized in Lima, but when the lockdown was communicated, many quickly left Lima to visit their families in all regions. What did they bring with them?...