Brazil is the largest country in South America, with a population half the size of United States. Its administration downplayed the COVID outbreak on February 25, 2020. Since then, it became the third highest infected nation after India and United States. There are more things we need to know about the Brazil coronavirus in case it surges in our homeland.
The Brazil Coronavirus Is a Highly Infectious Strain
The Brazil virus has three mutations of the spike protein according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control. This is the gate keeper where the virus enters host cells, and is therefore fundamental for immunization. Available evidence suggests this variant may increase person-to-person transmission, while simultaneously weakening approved vaccines.
Brazil has recorded over nine millions cases of COVID-19. The mortality rate there is 2.79%, which is not excessive by world standards. However, the sheer weight of serious infections is causing medical resources to reach breaking point. The reality of being unable to obtain hospital treatment for a loved one is closer than the horizon.
Things to Know About the Brazil Coronavirus in Manaus
Manaus city has a population of two-and-a-quarter million people, in the heart of the Amazonian rain forest where two rivers meet. Its hospitals arranged contingency plans after the first COVID surge subsided. And then they waited for things they hoped they would never need to know about the Brazil coronavirus.
But the new surge in January 2021 was different from what they expected, according to Washington Post. Within 24 hours, the oxygen ran out because the patients were sicker than doctors expected. One specialist described the hospital wards as ‘chambers of asphyxiation’.
An epidemiologist at a city hospital told the reporter ‘You are watching deaths every day, deaths that could have been avoided. You choose who lives and who dies, who gets oxygen and who doesn’t. It’s like we’re in a horror film.’
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Preview Image: Daily New Cases
