Ambulances filled with breathless patients in Brazil, as countries worldwide set new records on Thursday for COVID-19 deaths and new coronavirus infections. The disease has increased even in some countries that have kept the virus in check.
In the United States, Detroit leaders have begun making a plan to knock on every door to persuade people to get vaccinated.
Brazil became only the third country this week, after the US and Peru, which reported a 24-hour report of COVID-19 deaths exceeding 4,000. India has reached a peak of nearly 127,000 new cases within 24 hours, and Iran set a new record of coronavirus infection for the third consecutive day, which reports nearly 22,600 new cases.
In the state of Rio de Janeiro, emergency services are under the greatest pressure since the pandemic began, with ambulances transporting patients of all ages to overcrowded hospitals, struggling to care for everyone. According to authorities, more than 90% of the beds for intensive care units are taken by COVID-19 patients, and many cities report people dying at home due to lack of medical treatment.
‘We are already living the third wave. We have three times as many calls, ”compared to previous waves, said Adriano Pereira, director of the mobile emergency service in Duque de Caxias, an impoverished city outside Rio.
The death toll in Brazil has risen by more than 340,000, the second highest total in the world behind the US, where it has been confirmed that nearly 560,000 people have died.
Rio’s 14-day moving average COVID-19 daily deaths climbed from 112 to 207 between March 1 and April 7, while some health analysts would expect even worse days in the next few weeks. Many hospitals warn about the risk of lack of oxygen and sedatives for intubation.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on people to be vaccinated and wrote in a tweet: ‘Vaccination is one of the few ways we can defeat the virus. If you are eligible for the vaccine, you should do so soon. ‘
The US has now fully vaccinated almost 20% of its adult population, and New Mexico has become the first state to embrace 25% of its population – milestones that are still far away for many countries that have been hit hard.
In India, where 1.4 billion people live, only 11 million have been fully vaccinated. According to Our World in Data, an online research website, less than 3% of the 210 million people in the country received both doses.
South Korea reported another 700 cases, the highest daily jump since January 5. Health authorities were expected to announce measures to strengthen the social distance after a meeting Friday.
In Thailand, which reported only 95 deaths during the pandemic, health officials reported the country’s first local cases of the coronavirus variant. first detected in Britain. The news comes at a time when only 1% of the population has been vaccinated, and Thais is preparing to celebrate Songkran’s traditional New Year’s holiday next week, usually a time of widespread travel.
The variant is more contagious, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week that it is now the most common variant. in the United States, it can cause injuries and cause more people to get sick.
Michigan averages more than 7,000 new cases a day – a number that makes the state second in the country behind New York. Michigan also has the most new cases per capita, with 1 in 203 state residents being diagnosed with COVID-19 between March 31 and April 7, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
In Detroit, which is about 80% black, officials said they plan to visit homes to talk about the importance of protecting themselves from vaccinations against the virus and to sign up to receive the shots.
“We’re going to knock on every residential door in the city and make sure every Detroit knows how to make an appointment,” Victoria Kovari, an executive assistant to Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, told The Detroit News.
Only 22% of Detroit residents received at least one vaccine dose, according to Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services, compared to 38% for the whole of Michigan.
Other states in the Middle East have seen alarming signs in recent days, including a school district in Iowa where 127 students and five staff members tested positive for the coronavirus or were considered positive.
In Massachusetts, where the seven-day moving average of daily new cases rose to more than 2,100 new cases a day, the Massachusetts Public Health Association called on Republican Gov. Charlie Baker to reintroduce public health measures set. The group has called on Baker to limit indoor eating capacity and other indoor activities, saying the increase in cases and hospitalizations follows Baker’s decision to weaken the restrictions.
“We are currently in a race between the vaccines and the variants,” Carlene Pavlos, executive director of the group, said Thursday. “Without these social health measures, even innocent lives will be lost unnecessarily.
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Associated Press authors Felipe Dana in Rio de Janeiro, Mauricio Savarese in São Paulo and Corey Williams in Detroit contributed to this report.