Peru Puts Hospitals on El Nino Alert Until Next June

By The Rio Times | Created at 2026-10-08 08:17:03 | Updated at 2026-10-08 11:35:20 4 hours ago

PERU · HEALTH

Key Facts

—The country Peru, where Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV was Bishop of Chiclayo.
—What happened Health facilities nationwide were put on yellow alert for El Niño.
—How long From Tuesday, 6 October, until 30 June 2027.
—The papal visit A second alert covers six areas from 1 to 23 November.
—The risk 8.7 million people live in districts at very high landslide risk.
—Still open Whether the alert brings extra money, staff or medicine.

The order keeps routine care running but tells hospitals to prepare for heavy rain, water shortages and crowds around a US-born pope.

Peru’s health ministry has put hospitals and clinics nationwide on yellow alert for El Niño until 30 June 2027. A second alert covers six areas during the November visit of Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV.

Health Minister Luis Dyer signed the order on Tuesday, 6 October, and the ministry announced it on Wednesday, 7 October. For Americans heading to Peru for the papal visit or the rainy season, it shows the state expects pressure on health services.

What the Health Ministry Ordered

Ministerial Resolution 921-2026/MINSA sets the El Niño alert for all health facilities from the day it was issued. It replaces a nationwide alert for heavy rains, which the ministry ended and repealed in the same order.

The new El Niño alert covers two risks at once: intense rainfall and water shortages. The old one covered heavy rain only, the resolution says.

Under a 2004 ministry directive, a yellow alert applies when an adverse event is imminent or highly probable. Health units must then prepare for possible self-protection and relief work.

The resolution says scheduled appointments will not be suspended or postponed unless the feared events actually happen. The ministry’s disaster-risk directorate, known as Digerd, will supervise the measure through regional health offices.

The order was published in an extraordinary edition of El Peruano, the official gazette, the state news agency Andina reported. The ministry has also posted the signed text on its website.

Why Peru Expects Rain and Drought Together

Digerd’s reports, cited in the resolution, say El Niño has already brought above-normal rainfall. Citing ENFEN, Peru’s multi-agency El Niño study commission, they describe a “dual and extraordinary” risk scenario.

ENFEN’s latest official statement, issued on Monday, 28 September, kept its coastal El Niño alert in place. It expects sea warming off Peru to stay of extraordinary magnitude until January 2027.

For October to December, ENFEN forecasts above-normal rain on the northern and central coast. The southern highlands and the Amazon should see normal to below-normal rain, with low river flows around Lake Titicaca.

Cenepred, the national disaster-risk planning agency, published its risk study for January to March 2027 on Wednesday. It found 702 districts in 22 departments at very high risk of landslides and mudslides.

Those districts are home to 8,695,261 people. In their most exposed zones, Cenepred counted 2,244 health facilities, 18,862 schools and 81 hydroelectric plants.

For floods, Cenepred lists 112 districts at very high risk. Their most exposed areas hold 3,571,687 residents and 638 health facilities, the agency said.

A Peruvian army medic in camouflage with a stethoscope examines a woman holding a small child, beside a girl, at a table inside an orange field tent

The Alert for Pope Leo XIV’s Visit

The second alert runs from 1 to 23 November in Cusco, Cajamarca, Lambayeque, Lima, Ucayali and the port province of Callao. The resolution cites mass travel and large crowds during the visit.

The pope lands in Lima from Buenos Aires on Wednesday, 11 November, according to the official programme of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference. He then visits Chiclayo, Santa Cruz de Succhabamba in Cajamarca, Cusco and Pucallpa in the Amazon.

He celebrates a final Mass at Las Palmas air base in Lima on Monday, 16 November, and flies to Rome that afternoon. The health alert thus starts ten days before he arrives and ends a week after he leaves.

The Vatican biography says Leo XIV was born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago in 1955. He became a naturalised Peruvian in 2015 and was Bishop of Chiclayo until Pope Francis called him to Rome in 2023.

What It Means for You

US Catholics planning to follow the pope will find health facilities on standby in every area on his route. The order keeps routine services running, so scheduled care is not suspended.

Travellers visiting between December and March should watch forecasts for the northern and central coast. Mudslides, known locally as huaicos, can cut roads during heavy rain.

Before travelling, visitors can check warnings from SENAMHI, Peru’s national weather service. Americans can also register with the State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program.

What Is Not Known

The resolution does not say whether the El Niño alert comes with extra funding, staff or medical supplies. It also does not spell out how it applies to EsSalud, the social security health insurer, or to private clinics.

The new order does not give the date of the earlier rain alert it repeals. Where El Niño rains will hit hardest remains a forecast, not a certainty.

What Comes Next

ENFEN will publish its next official statement on Thursday, 15 October. Under the 2004 directive, a later alert for the same event and area cancels the earlier one.

The papal alert takes effect on Sunday, 1 November. A yellow alert is a preparedness step, not a declaration of a health emergency.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a yellow health alert in Peru?

It applies when an adverse event is imminent or highly probable. Health facilities must prepare for possible emergency and relief work while normal care continues.