Brazil restrictions ease but variants cause concern
(23 Jul 2021) A fragile sense of relief has returned to Brazil, with the number of COVID-19 deaths here receding to pre-second wave levels. Governors are rolling back social distancing restrictions allowing soccer fans to return to stadiums and Rio de Janeiro's mayor announcing the city will stage its world-famous New Year's party. But in Brazil, the race is on to innoculate as many people as possible before the delta variant takes hold. Countries that succeeded in doing so, like the U.K., have seen infections soar in recent weeks without corresponding increases of serious illness or deaths. Experts have expressed concern that it is unlikely Brazil can manage to do the same in time. Brazil's Health Ministry counted 140 cases of the delta variant by Friday, including some in its three most populous states, and 12 deaths. Analysts say the figures are vast undercounts due to lack of testing and genome sequencing. President Jair Bolsonaro has long opposed restrictions on activity and downplayed the virus's risks, often saying that infection is inevitable. Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga has insisted vaccination is the best way to stop delta, but even as the variant started spreading, said this week that Brazil must resume economic activities. Brazil has fully vaccinated 17% of the population and 44% have received the first of two shots. The AstraZeneca shot makes up nearly half the total of vaccines administered to date, Chinese-made Sinovac more than one-third, and Pfizer most of the remainder. All three have different efficacy against the Delta variant, but Brazil nonetheless continues to reopen. Sao Paulo's Gov. João Doria is among governors considering a booster shot for those who received Sinovac as a means to beef up defenses against delta. At the same time, he allowed businesses to stay open later and to increase customer capacity. The Federal District's Gov. Ibaneis Rocha this week permitted a soccer match to welcome about 15,000 spectators- it was the first professional club match attended by Brazilian fans since the pandemic began. Shortly before the game, the district's health secretary confirmed delta had been identified in the region. But at the Dasa research laboratory, virologists say they are more concerned about the continuing mutation of the Gamma variant, which first emerged in Manaus earlier this year, and has since become the predominate strain in Brazil. "I t is not a time to relax," said Jose Eduardo Levi, virologist in charge of the GENOV Project from the Brazilian lab DASA. "Right now, the only thing different we have is the number of people vaccinated." The best outcome for Brazil to avoid a further outbreak of delta, experts say, is to inoculate more people, as quickly as possible. Brazil has had 547 thousand deaths due to COVID-19, 1,412 of them in the last 24 hours, according to the Brazilian Ministry of Health. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
