Due to the slow progress of vaccination, nearly 92 new coronavirus strains have been identified, making the country a huge variant factory.
It is the text that makes your spine tremble.Published in the Daily Column on March 27 newspaperWritten by Drauzio Varella. The 77-year-old famous oncologist, the most popular doctor in Brazil, no longer remembers his words when describing the country’s health in a seemingly cautious situation. “The epidemic is out of control. From now on, we can only rely on ourselves”, M. Varella was shocked.
In fact, Brazil is now suffering from an unprecedented health disaster. The country deplores the nearly 340,000 victims and as many as 4,000 deaths per day related to Covid-19. The epidemic curve continues to climb: 66,800 patients died of the disease in March alone, more than double the number in the previous month. The University of Washington expects to add another 100,000 people in April.
“This is absolutely dramatic. The health system has collapsed in almost all parts of the country.”, Expressed regret to Paulo Menezes, an epidemiologist at the University of Sao Paulo (USP). In 17 states, the occupancy rate of the intensive care unit exceeds 90%. Throughout Brazil, hundreds of patients have died while waiting for free beds in hospitals.
Vaccination is in progress, but progress is too slow. As of April 7, nearly 21 million Brazilians (only 10% of the population) have received the first dose of the vaccine. The delays in delivery and manufacturing are considerable. The government must revise its forecast downwards and announce that only 25.5 million doses will be allocated in April, which is half of the expected number in the original vaccination plan.
The more infectious and undoubtedly more aggressive Amazon variant P1 continues its lightning-fast spread. Experts now describe Brazil as a huge deformed factory that jeopardizes the fight against the epidemic in the region and the rest of the world. The Fiocruz Institute-the equivalent of Pasteur in France-has thus identified nearly 92 new coronavirus strains in circulation in the country. “There are others who may appear because the virus is too free to circulate here.”, To remind Mr. Menezes.
Under pressure, Jair Bolsonaro finally announced the establishment of a crisis management committee in March and appointed a recognized health minister, Dr. Marcelo Queiroga. But the President still strongly opposes the containment measures issued by the local authorities. “Brazil must return to work”, He answered on April 5.
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