By NewsDesk  @infectiousdiseasenews

Peru Minister of Health, Óscar Ugarte said a study by the National Institute of Health (INS) determined that approximately 40% of cases of the new coronavirus cases in Lima have been due to the Brazilian variant of this disease, or P.1.

“This INS study is extremely important because it has made it possible to identify, through a sampling throughout Lima, that the main variant that causes COVID-19 today in a percentage of 40% is the Brazilian variant ,” he said.

“This is important to know, because it is the variant that we knew had arrived. We had identified in Loreto, Huánuco, weeks ago we identified a case of the Brazilian variant in Lima that was controlled ”, added the head of the Ministry of Health.

Minister Óscar Ugarte said that most of the cases are in East Lima, mainly in the districts of Ate , El Agustino , Lurigancho-Chosica and Santa Anita. He explained that this is because this area is the entry route for travelers arriving from the eastern part of the country to Lima.

The head of the Health sector argued, in this line, that said information should serve for citizens to redouble their care in order to avoid the spread of COVID-19, while the Executive will continue to work on improving the response of the health system.

“This should not cause a special alarm, but what this tells us is that we must redouble care in the population to avoid contagion and therefore redouble hand washing measures, the use of masks , to avoid concentrations, to guarantee social distancing, as well as timely care, diagnosis, early isolation, to prevent the family from being infected and this is what we must guarantee,” he said.