COVID-19 Situation Report, n.41 (18 January 2021)

Abstract

Following an outbreak of a novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China, rapid community, regional and international spread has occurred with exponential growth in cases and deaths. On 30 January 2020, the Director-General (DG) of the WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) under the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005). The first case in the Americas was confirmed in the USA on 20 January 2020, followed by Brazil on 26 February 2020. Since then, COVID-19 has spread to all 56 countries and territories in the Americas. On 17 January 2020, the Pan American Sanitary Bureau activated an organization-wide Incident Management Support Team (IMST) to provide its countries and territories with technical cooperation to address and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. These efforts are aligned with the nine pillars of the WHO Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan for COVID-19 and PAHO Resolution CD58.R9 approved by its Member States. The Organization develops, publishes, and disseminates evidence-based technical documents to help guide countries’ strategies and policies to manage this pandemic. SITUATION IN NUMBERS IN THE AMERICAS as of 18 January 2021 (15:00): 41,776,035 confirmed cases; 963,290 deaths; 56 affected countries / areas / territories.