Brazil fights the world’s worst coronavirus outbreak as “mutant” strains spread

As the world approaches the first anniversary of the pandemic, Covid-19 continues to leave traces of death and despair in Brazil, endangering hospitals as the epidemic of more contagious “mutant” strains threatens reinfection. I am.

It is one of the most devastated countries in the world, with the second highest death toll after the United States and the third largest infectious disease in the world, with nearly 11 million people infected with the virus and more than 250,000 dead. doing.

Covid-19 has begun to slowly retreat in other countries (even in countries with large outbreaks) as vaccine deployments begin, while Brazil has seen a surge in new cases and record deaths. I’m fighting.

Up to 80% of ICU beds are filled in about 20 states.

The National Council of Health Ministers is calling for a curfew and airport closures to avoid the collapse of public and private health care systems.

“Acceleration of epidemics in various states has led to the collapse of public and private hospital systems, which could soon be true in all parts of Brazil,” the association said.

“Unfortunately, the development of vaccine anemia and the slow pace of vaccine availability do not yet suggest a short-term reversal of this scenario.”

Twenty-four hours after people died in 1910, it became a problem that President Jail Bolsonaro, who had downplayed the pandemic and its effects, continued to oppose face masks and tell residents to “stop whining.” not. Virus in a day.

“How long will you keep crying?” Said the far-right leader at the event on Friday.

“How long do you stay home and close everything? We regret death again, but we need a solution.”

“At this point, Brazil has to fight two viruses, the coronavirus and the bolsonarovirus, which is sad for the Brazilians,” São Paulo Governor João Doria told the BBC.

Doria called the president a “crazy man” for attacking “the governor and mayor who want to buy vaccines and help the country end this pandemic.”

“How can we tackle the problem by seeing people die every day? Brazil’s healthcare system is on the verge of collapse,” he added.

Maria Graudimar, a nurse at Manaus Hospital, said the New York Times patients and their relatives were seeking oxygen and all intensive care units were full, saying the situation was “no one prepared” and “horror.” It was a movie. “

“More than one million people should be vaccinated per day,” Margares Dalcom, a pulmonologist at Fiocrus, a well-known scientific research center, told The Times.

“That’s true, not because we don’t know how to do it, but because we don’t have enough vaccines.”

Brazil isn’t the only place to worry, but experts warn of the ongoing crisis.

Duke University neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis spoke with the Guardian and urged the international community to challenge the Brazilian government over the failure to contain Covid-19.

“The world must speak violently about the risks Brazil poses to fight the pandemic,” he told the publication, following the crisis over the last 12 months.

“If Brazil continues to be a breeding ground for this virus, what is the point of classifying pandemics in Europe or the United States?

“We have now killed 250,000 people. If we do nothing, we expect to lose 500,000 people here in Brazil by March next year. It’s horribly tragic. It’s a good prospect, but at this point it’s completely possible. “

“Mutant” strains that occur in South American countries and have already been detected in other countries around the world are also a source of concern, he added, “viruses multiply and eventually become more deadly” in Brazil. I called it an “field laboratory for creating something like that.” mutation”.

“This is about the world. It’s global.”

The new variant, known as P. 1, is 1.4 to 2.2 times more contagious than previously found versions of the virus in Brazil and is 25 to 61% more capable of reinfecting people infected with previous strains. That is. For a study published last Tuesday.

The strain has been found in 21 of Brazil’s 26 states, and doctors and nurses have reported colleagues who recovered from the virus a few months ago and were re-infected and positive.

The study, led by a professor of viral evolution at Oxford University and Imperial College London, Nunofalia, found that “the estimated increase in relative risk of death was due to P. 1 infection, stress on the Manaus medical system, or both. I haven’t decided yet.

“The virus behaves differently,” intensivist Rosa Lopez told The Wall Street Journal.

“It’s really aggressive … the situation is very difficult and really terrible.”