Brazil, Continued Spread of COVID-19 Variant Virus

On the 24th (local time), activists held a protest in front of a hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, condemning the government's lax COVID-19 prevention measures.
[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] The COVID-19 variant virus is rapidly spreading in Brazil.

On the 27th (local time), the S?o Paulo city authorities announced that the Tropical Medicine Research Institute of the University of S?o Paulo (IMT-USP) investigated 73 confirmed cases, and among them, 47 people (64%) were confirmed to be infected with the variant virus called 'P.1.', which originated from Amazonas in northern Brazil.

Previously, the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation reported that infections with the 'P.1.' variant virus had been reported in at least 20 of Brazil's 27 states, indicating that the spread of the variant virus is occurring throughout Brazil.

According to the Brazilian Ministry of Health, as of this day, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Brazil increased by 85,948 from the previous day, totaling 12,490,362. Although the number of new confirmed cases on the 25th was recorded at 101,058, surpassing 100,000 for the first time, the number has somewhat decreased but remains in the 80,000 range, indicating that the spread continues.

The number of deaths also reached a record high since the COVID-19 outbreak, with 3,650 deaths reported the previous day.

Meanwhile, Marcelo Queiroga, the Minister of Health of Brazil, stated that wearing masks is important to suppress the spread of COVID-19, and starting early next month, an average of 1 million vaccinations per day will be administered. Minister Queiroga emphasized that while strengthening the vaccination campaign, efforts will also focus on domestic vaccine production.

Brazil began vaccinations on January 17, but as of this day, only 15,248,847 people, corresponding to 7.2% of the total population, have been vaccinated.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.