Brazil surpasses 2,000 deaths for first time in past 24 hours, consolidates as pandemic epicenter

BRASILIA.- Brazil topped 2,000 daily coronavirus deaths this Wednesday for the first time, with 2,286 deaths in the past 24 hours, reported the Ministry of Health. The South American giant also reported 79,876 new cases in 24 hours, the second worst record since the pandemic began in February 2020, a figure that confirms the country as the current epicenter of the pandemic, since the United States has maintained a downward trend in cases and deaths for weeks. Infections total 11.1 million.

The dismal toll coincided with concern from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) over the increase in Covid-19 cases in nearly every state in the country. “We are concerned about the situation in Brazil. This is a stark reminder of the threat of a revival given that the areas severely affected by the virus are still very vulnerable to infections, ”said PAHO Director Carissa Etienne.

Brazil yesterday reported 1972 deaths from Covid-19, the record for deaths to date at a time when the health system is overwhelmed and vaccination progressing slowly. The country, which has suffered 268,000 fatal cases, is the second most affected by the pandemic after the United States.

“Cases are on the increase in almost all Brazilian states,” Etienne warned. “We cannot wait for our systems to be overwhelmed to implement public health measures,” he added.

Already last week, the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, urged the country to take “aggressive” measures against the pandemic and warned the situation could affect “all neighbors”.

“If Brazil doesn’t take it seriously, it will affect all the neighbors and beyond, so it’s not just about Brazil, I think it concerns all of Latin America,” he said. .

Regarding the situation in the rest of the continent, PAHO reported that the United States, Canada and Mexico continue to report a drop in cases, despite the fact that there are very active foci in the state of Virginia, the United States and the locality of Nunavut, an indigenous community, in the Canadian Arctic.

PAHO has also reported a decline in cases in Central America, although with an increase in parts of Guatemala and in the indigenous region of Guna Yala in Panama. In South America, the agency noted that there is an increase in new cases in Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile and a decrease in Peru and Bolivia, but that in these two Andean countries, the level of infections remains Student.

Etienne announced that in the coming days, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Jamaica will receive doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, through the Covax global access system, managed by the WHO.

“It is encouraging that vaccines are starting to arrive in our region, but since the doses are limited, most people still have to wait several months to be vaccinated,” he said.

Regarding the possibility that indigenous groups – who have been hit hard by the pandemic – receive vaccines directly through the Covax mechanism, PAHO stressed that Ministries of Health are in charge of distribution, but that the recommendation is that these groups can be designated as vulnerable population.

Reuters and AFP agencies

THE NATION

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