Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina top Latin America pandemic response list: poll

Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina are the Latin American countries that earned the best grades for their response to the coronavirus, according to a poll conducted in the region and released yesterday, while Brazil was tagged as the worst performer. The survey by the consulting firm Trespuntozero, to which Reuters had exclusive access, shows that in eight of the 10 countries in which the study was conducted, the respondents considered Uruguay one of the best controllers of the pandemic. According to the poll, the performance of Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou against the pandemic had 77.8% approval in his own country; that of Paraguayan Mario Abdo, 76.7%; and that of Argentina’s Alberto Fernandez, 68%. As of Thursday, Uruguay registered 947 cases with 28 deaths, according to the Reuters count, Argentina 69,941 cases with 1,385 deaths and Brazil 1,495,628 with 61,862 deaths. The survey was carried out among 10,000 people distributed equally in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic. Asked about which countries in the region had done the worst against the pandemic, respondents put Brazil at the bottom. “The countries surveyed were clear on which model not to follow: Brazil,” Shila Vilker, director of the Buenos Aires-based consultancy Trespuntozero, told Reuters. Brazil has more confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths than anywhere outside the US. President Jair Bolsonaro has criticised lockdown and social-distancing orders issued by governors and mayors. Echoing US President Donald Trump, he has recommended unproven anti-malarial drugs to treat the virus.

Meanwhile, people who recovered from coronavirus infections in Argentina have volunteered to donate plasma as part of a national clinical trial to test its effectiveness as a treatment for patients who are still sick with Covid-19. Recovered people came to centres across the country to donate, even as winter settles on the South American nation, bringing cold temperatures and rainy weather. “It doesn’t cost a thing and you know you can do good, that’s what’s important in all of this,” Daiana Woloszczuk, 34, said while donating plasma in the city of La Plata.”If I can help someone else have a little bit better of a time, I welcome it.” In order to donate, a person has to be well for at least 14 days and test negative twice for coronavirus. The treatment proved crucial for patients like Barbara Piccardi, a 31-year-old administrative employee, who was hospitalised for a month with respiratory complications due to coronavirus. When she struggled to breathe on her own, her doctors opted for plasma treatment and she recovered. “Thanks to (the donor) and her blood, I am alive here at home today,” Piccardi said.