Canada And Peru Eliminate Anti-covid Measures

While in Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that by the end of this month the country will eliminate the requirement of vaccination against Covid-19 to be able to enter; in Peru, the mandatory use of masks in public spaces was ended; before this, the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) said that the end of the Covid-19 pandemic was in sight, but still far away, nuancing the statements he made last week.

At the moment, visitors entering Canada without vaccines have to undergo a 14-day quarantine to ensure they are not infected, in addition to the corresponding diagnostic tests.

For its part, Peru announced on Thursday the end of the mandatory use of masks in public spaces, in force for more than two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Changes have been made in the regulation of the use of masks. Now, the use of masks will only be mandatory in vehicles (public transport), in hospitals and (for) anyone who has clinical respiratory diseases," said the health minister.

The official also announced that it will no longer be mandatory to present the anti-virus vaccination card to enter shopping malls, banks and restaurants. It will only be required for people arriving to the country.

"We are taking these measures in view of the decrease of covid-19," said Lopez in a press conference, after pointing out that the respective decree will be published this Friday in the official gazette.

In Peru there are currently 625 patients with covid-19 in hospitals, well below the record of 15,547 in April 2021, according to official figures.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), specified:

"We have spent two and a half years in a long, dark tunnel, and we are just beginning to glimpse the light, at the end of the tunnel," during a press conference in New York, where he is participating in the United Nations General Assembly meeting."

"But we are still far away and the tunnel is still dark, with numerous obstacles that could bring us down if we are not vigilant," he added.

These statements are less optimistic than what the head himself said last week, when he commented that the world "has never been in a better position to end the pandemic".

According to Dr. Tedros, the number of deaths recorded each week in the world continues to fall and represents no more than 10% of what was the peak in January 2021.

In most countries, restrictions have been lifted and two-thirds of the world's population has been vaccinated.