Coronavirus update from Uruguay

Uruguay has had one of the lowest numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths across Latin America, with 929 confirmed cases and 27 deaths according to today’s statistics*. Mr Alfredo Alcarraz, the President of the Methodist Church in Uruguay, recently shared with us what the current situation there is:

"The situation of the pandemic in Uruguay is much better than in other countries in the region.  The situation of neighbouring countries, especially Brazil with whom we share a border of many kilometres, is very different. A week and a half ago we had no new cases, followed by 3 days with only one new case of the virus after efforts were made to contain it in a Brazilian-Uruguayan border town. Last weekend, there was a flare up of cases in another area which borders Brazil. We are now controlling the situation there, but it is likely that there will be cases of people testing positive in the next two weeks. More importantly, our health system has been robust and far from collapsing, even though we mourn the 26 deaths.

With God’s help we hope to overcome this situation in the best way possible and in a short space of time.  One of the circumstances that could complicate our recovery is that we have just started our winter season, and this includes the start of illnesses, particularly respiratory, that are typical of the season. These could contribute to limiting our recovery.

We see that the situation in the UK has not been good, but I hope, with God’s help, that things will improve for you. We are praying for you."

Alfredo Alcarraz

* John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html