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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, July 21st 2025 - 00:46 UTC

Tag: COVID-19

  • Tuesday, January 23rd 2024 - 11:00 UTC

    New strain of Covid-19 detected in Brazil

    The fatal victim already had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

    Brazilian authorities Monday confirmed the detection of four cases of the JN 2.5 subvariant of the SARS-Cov-2 virus in the state of Mato Grosso. The patients were reported to be all female and hospitalized in a serious condition. One of them even died. However, the Mato Grosso State Health Department said there was no reason to panic because at this point “it is not possible to say that the cause of death was COVID-19” since ”the patient already had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).”

  • Monday, January 22nd 2024 - 11:23 UTC

    Argentina's Health Ministry issues Covid-19 vax recommendation

    People under 50 with comorbidities and healthcare workers were included in the intermediate-risk group

    Argentina's Health Ministry issued Sunday a recommendation to patients people over 50 years of age and those at risk to get a booster dose of a Covid-19 vaccine given the increase in cases reported during the last few weeks. The drug “is essential to maintain adequate protection to prevent complications, hospitalizations, and deaths due to this disease,” the Ministry said in a statement.

  • Saturday, January 20th 2024 - 10:32 UTC

    Bolsonaro's Covid-19 vax card proven to be fake

    Bolsonaro has always claimed never to have taken a Covid-19 vaccine

    Brazilian authorities have determined that former President Jair Bolsonaro produced false certificates attesting to his vaccination against Covid-19 to enter the United States, it was reported this week.

  • Friday, January 19th 2024 - 10:54 UTC

    Argentina reports more Covid-19 patients in ICU

    “The current issue is vaccination,” Dubin said

    Argentina's sanitary system is noticing an increase in the number of patients hospitalized in intensive care units (ICUs) with Covid-19 during the first weeks of January, it was reported Thursday in Buenos Aires. ICU specialist Arnaldo Dubin spoke to local media about “mainly elderly patients, with many comorbidities and an out-of-date vaccination schedule.”

  • Thursday, January 18th 2024 - 10:41 UTC

    Uruguayan homes for the elderly not fond of Covid-19 vax booster doses

    Vaccinated or not, people still get infected, they argued

    One day after Uruguay's Health Ministry announced a new Covid-19 vaccination campaign, a business guild bringing together homes for the elderly announced no booster doses would be encouraged on their part.

  • Wednesday, January 17th 2024 - 10:58 UTC

    Uruguay launching new Covid-19 vaccination campaign

    This monovalent vaccine has “an important coverage against all circulating strains,” Rando explained

    Uruguayan authorities have launched a vaccination campaign against Covid-19 as the malady is spreading nationwide with a “moderate intensity,” it was reported in Montevideo. The Health Ministry said 330,000 booster vaccines have become available.

  • Friday, January 12th 2024 - 10:25 UTC

    Paraguayan experts call for action against Covid-19

    “Right now we have a Covid epidemic,” Cabello said

    Paraguay's Director General of Health Surveillance, Águeda Cabello, this week echoed a recommendation by the country's leading physicians to wear face masks in healthcare facilities as the number of Covid-19 cases is reported to be on the rise.

  • Thursday, January 11th 2024 - 11:06 UTC

    Brazilian-developed vaccine against Covid-19 registered by Anvisa

    The recombinant Zalika vaccine is monovalent for the original SARS-CoV-2 virus

    The new vaccine against Covid-19 developed by the Brazilian company Zalika Farmacêutica has been entered into the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) this week, Agencia Brasil reported. The drug can be used in people aged 12 and over and is to be administered in two doses, 21 days apart, with boosters after 6 months for those over 18 years of age.

  • Wednesday, January 10th 2024 - 10:40 UTC

    Increase in number of Covid-19 cases reported in Argentina

    Cases went up significantly from Dec. 18-24 to Jan. 1-7

    An increase in the number of Covid-19 cases has been reported by local media this week in Argentina -particularly in the City of Buenos Aires, the Province of Buenos Aires, Chaco, Jujuy, and Tucumán- and some people are beginning to fear an encore of the 2020 lockdown measures in the winter season.

  • Monday, January 8th 2024 - 12:20 UTC

    Chile's health minister wants people to show up for vaccination against Covid-19

    “Every time there are new variants there is the probability that cases will increase again,” Aguilera explained regarding Pirola

    Chile's Health Minister Ximena Aguilera launched an appeal to the citizenry to update their vaccination schedules given the appearance of the JN.1 variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, also known as Pirola, of which an outbreak is feared after the strain was detected in over 40 countries.