Rapid antibody detection kit: a necessity in epidemic situation. After that, it can stay in the patient's body for several months, and the virus can spread to all parts of the body and continue to attack the heart and brain.

Vaccine inequity remains the biggest barrier to reaching our coverage targets,” Dr. Barbosa said. Public health measures are therefore “our best strategy for reducing COVID-19 transmission and saving lives.”

In the last week, COVID infections and deaths decreased across much of North, Central and South America, with the exception of Paraguay, which saw a spike in COVID cases, and Belize which reported a sharp jump in deaths.

Turning to the COVID-19 situation in the region, Dr. Etienne said that in the past week the Americas reported nearly 817,000 new infections and over 18,000 deaths.