Brazil is bearing the brunt of a disturbing increase in Covid-19 cases, with deaths reaching more than 4,000 in one day and stretching hospitals to breaking point.
As the United States continues its vaccinations and public debates over the reopening of the economy with possible ‘vaccine passports’, Brazil’s fate is a reminder that much of the rest of the world is still in the grip of the pandemic.
“This is a nuclear reactor that has caused a chain reaction and is out of control. It is a biological Fukushima,” Miguel Nicolelis, a Brazilian doctor and professor at Duke University, told Reuters.
According to data from the Brazilian Ministry of Health, Brazil’s total death toll of 337,000 is only surpassed by the US figure of 562,000, according to NBC News.
According to health experts, the country is struggling with a very contagious local variant amid scarce social distance and a national shortage of hospital beds. Many people blame the right-wing populist president, Jair Bolsonaro, who has repeatedly denied the benefit of wearing masks and questioned the effectiveness of vaccines, which is contrary to global health advice.
Brazil has also been hit by four health ministers since the pandemic began, delaying planning efforts. Some Brazilians travel to countries like Uruguay to be vaccinated. Authorities in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, have emptied old tombs to make way amid rising death toll.
Despite the recent upsurge, Brazilian officials are urging that the country may soon return to something that looks normal.
“We think Brazil could probably be two, three months from now,” Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said during an online event on Tuesday. Meanwhile, leading economists have asked the government in an open letter to expedite vaccinations and prepare for emergency blockade, which contradicts Bolsonaro’s claims that such closures could cause too many financial problems.
The increase in deaths around the world serves as a serious reminder that despite successful vaccinations in the US, UK and other countries, the global pandemic cannot be suppressed while the virus still hangs and mutations develop.
“No single government or multilateral agency can tackle this threat alone,” the World Health Organization said in a statement last week. “The Covid-19 pandemic was a serious and painful reminder that no one is safe until everyone is safe.”
Rowland Kao, a professor of veterinary epidemiology and data science at the University of Edinburgh, said that although vaccines and social constraints work, ‘we certainly do not take this into account worldwide,’ he said.
“The worst thing you can have is a significant number of vaccinated at the same time as a significant number of unvaccinated people with a circulating disease,” he told NBC News. A scenario that increases the chance of transmission and increases the spread of mutated variants that ‘evade’ the vaccine, he said, while jeopardizing global travel and trade.
Kao said it would require a ‘balancing act’ to get countries back on track. “It’s going to be a game, you can hold it out long enough to develop variants for variants,” he added. “All it takes is one person to cross a border.”
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Elsewhere, the pandemic continues to grow.
India on Wednesday reported a record 115,156 new cases, an increase of 13 times in just over two months, with increasing pressure on the government to expand its vaccination campaign.
As a second wave gains momentum, the federal government has asked states to decide on local curbs to control the spread of the virus, but so far it has refused to impose any national shutdown after the latter destroyed its economy in 2020. has.
“The pandemic is not over and there is no room for complacency,” Health Minister Harsh Vardhan tweeted, urging people to “be vaccinated in turn and follow Covid-appropriate behavior carefully!”
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea on Wednesday reported its highest number of single cases in three months in three months, amid an increase in infections in kindergartens, saunas, pubs and churches, mostly in greater Seoul. The Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported 668 new cases for Tuesday, the highest level since January 8.
While in Japan, where the Olympics would begin in just over 100 days, the western region of Osaka on Wednesday canceled the scheduled Olympic torch events and declared a medical emergency as things skyrocketed.
“It is almost certain that this mutant strain is highly contagious at a high transmission rate,” Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura said in television remarks. “The medical system is in a very difficult situation.”
Arata Yamamoto contributed.