![While coronavirus infections are finally decreasing in the United States and Canada after weeks of unrelenting rise, cases and deaths continue to increase in Latin American countries, the Pan American Health Organization said on Wednesday [Juan Karita/AP Photo]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/AP_21028849229744.jpg?resize=770%2C513)
SANTIAGO, Feb 15 (NNN-Xinhua) — Chilean Health Minister Enrique Paris said that despite the success of the vaccination program, through which 1.8 million people have received the first dose of the vaccine against COVID-19, citizens must continue to take care of their health.
“We all have to work together to continue reducing these indicators, for which we need people to be vaccinated according to the schedule we have established,” he said in a statement.
Paris stressed that citizens must, above all, follow self-care measures such as the use of masks, physical distancing, and frequent hand washing to prevent the spread of the virus.
He also said that in the last 24 hours, six regions of the country showed a decrease in the percentage of positive cases of COVID-19, while another six maintained their percentages.
The Chilean Ministry of Health on Sunday reported 3,815 new COVID-19 cases, for a total of 776,209, and another 98 deaths, bringing the death toll to 19,541.
The ministry also announced that so far, 733,731 patients have recovered from the disease, while 22,484 are still in the active stage.
BRAZIL reported 24,759 new COVID-19 infections and 713 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the national counts to 9,834,513 and 239,245 respectively.
The state of Sao Paulo, the most populous state in the country, is the hardest hit by the pandemic, with 1,913,598 infections and 56,266 deaths.
Brazil has the world’s second highest COVID-19 death toll after the United States and the third largest caseload after the United States and India.
More than 5 million people in Brazil have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while over 190,000 have had the second dose.
ECUADOR’s Ministry of Public Health (MSP) reported 1,696 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the total to 267,223.
The ministry also reported 49 more deaths, bringing the death toll to 10,599, while 230,377 patients have recovered from the disease.
The ministry stated that cases are currently on the rise, with one of the main sources of transmission being family gatherings of more than 10 people in spaces without ventilation for over two hours.
The province of Pichincha continues to be the epicenter of the pandemic in the country, with a total of 93,651 cases, most of them concentrated in the capital city of Quito, which reported 539 new cases in the last 24 hours.
The country began a four-day holiday on Saturday for Carnival, and authorities have asked the population to act responsibly. — NNN-XINHUA
