Uruguay was once a model country for how to respond the the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it has lost its grip on SARS-CoV-2 in recent months. It is now one of many South American countries struggling to manage a wave of infectious diseases.Scientists in Uruguay believe that a combination of complacency, fueled by Uruguay's initial success in controlling the virus and the difficulties posed by a highly transmissible SARS-2 variant is to blame.Rafael Radi, a biochemist from the University of the Republic, Montevideo, said that we were a model in 2020. Unfortunately, the path is not the same in 2021.The country of 3.5 million people only recorded 19,100 COVID-19 cases and 180 deaths last year. According to an online publication called Our World in Data (UK), it has already reported more that 341,000 infections and 5,100 deaths. It was the country with the highest COVID-19 death rate per capita on several occasions between May and June.Radigiving hope that the virus can be contained once again, Radigiving hope that new infections and deaths have fallen in the last week.Early successScientists and representatives from Uruguay attributed their country's success in containing the pandemic to officials who acted on the advice of the Honorary Scientific Advisory Group, a group of 55 scientists experts. After the confirmation of its first COVID-19 case, Uruguay's government shut down schools and businesses in March 2020 and restricted travel to its borders based on the recommendations of the Honorary Scientific Advisory Group (GACH).Radi says that we did many things right. Radi said that 2020 saw almost perfect integration of science, society, health and government.Scientists, including Gonzalo Moratorio (a virologist at the Pasteur Institute in Montevideo), realized that Uruguay would require COVID-19 tests in order to isolate and identify infected people. They also knew that the country could not rely on other countries purchasing these kits. The researchers created their own tests and achieved the second highest per capita testing rates in Latin America, behind Chile. The country was able break transmission chains by using extensive testing and a robust contact-tracing system that Uruguay's Ministry of Health put in place. Uruguay did not report any new daily infections on several occasions in 2020.All of this changed in 2021. In December, COVID-19 cases started to rise. GACH recommended that restrictions be implemented, including closing the borders. However, officials failed to implement all of these recommendations. Radi says that they didn't close restaurants as it would have hurt the economy.The number of cases grew, and Uruguay's Tetris (test, trace, isolate) program was abandoned. Moratorio says that once more than 4% of the tests are positive, Tetris can't quickly identify and isolate COVID-19 patients fast enough to contain it.Radi says that this persistent first wave is far more than the Tetris strategy. A large number of cases have been lost to us.You are stuck in the middleResearchers believe that Uruguay's recent rise is due to its geography.While COVID-19 is declining in some areas of the globe, it continues to rage in South America. This continent currently has the highest number of COVID-19-related deaths per capita, at five times the global average.Uruguay is located between Brazil and Argentina, two hotspots in the region. Infections have been partly driven by a highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variant called P.1 or Gamma. Rivera and other cities in Uruguay press against Brazil's border, making travel restrictions between these countries impossible.In Uruguay, the Gamma variant accounted for less than 15% of all virus sequences in February. However, Rivera had 80% of the viruses, according to Rodney Colina (head of the molecular-virology lab at the University of the Republic, Salto, Uruguay).The Gamma variant was particularly leaked into Uruguay during the summer holidays. These were early in the year and families and friends gathered together, rather than being socially distant. Radi says that scientists now find the variant in nine out of ten sequenced viruses samples across the country.Relaxed VigilanceScientists in Uruguay say that the Gamma version is only one component of the equation. Paradoxally, 2021's loss of control was likely due to Uruguay's initial success in controlling the pandemic.Moratorio says that national authorities won't concede victory early enough. Because of all the positive things we'd done before, fear of the virus was not present.Uruguay should have taken steps to reduce the number of cases that rose, according to Zaida Arteta (secretary of the Medical Union of Uruguay) and member of the Uruguayan Interdisciplinary COVID-19 Data Analysis Group which monitors the pandemic.She says that although we had many opportunities to get back on track in our epidemiological tracing efforts, instead, we opened up more and moved away from a strategy to contain to mitigation.Nature's questions about the reasons why the Uruguayan President and Ministry of Public Health didn't respond to Nature's inquiries regarding their decision not to follow the GACHs recommendations for enacting restrictions the second time around were not answered by either the Ministry of Public Health or the office of the Uruguayan President.COVID-19 was not the only issue that government officials had to worry about. According to researchers, compliance with social-distancing guidelines declined in 2021 due to the confidence of the Uruguayans in the COVID-19 vaccines and how the pandemic was managed. Uruguay received its first shot on March 1.The GACH published research that showed that while the majority of Uruguayans believe that COVID-19 to be a serious disease, only one third think they will become infected in the next six months.Radi says that although infections were on the rise, there was a general feeling that they were under control and getting better. They were actually getting worse.About 43% of Uruguayans are fully vaccinated. 63% have received at most one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Uruguay has the fastest vaccination program in South America. On 9 June, it began giving jabs to children 12-17 years old.In the last week, positive COVID-19 cases decreased by more that one-third. According to Uruguay's Ministry of Public Health, admissions to intensive care units have fallen by over 92% for those who were vaccinated. Deaths have also dropped by more 95%.Experts remain optimistic. Arteta says that there are still many serious cases, and more people could die. The vaccine roll-out is Uruguay's strength. They are very effective and we are vaccinating very quickly and well. I hope this trend continues.This article was published with permission. It was first published June 25, 2021.
