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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy Americans should "be very worried" about the COVID variant tearing through Brazil
Sao Paulo Brazil's battle against a dangerous coronavirus variant has left its hospitals at breaking point, with new cases skyrocketing and the death toll climbing precipitously. One expert told CBS News that Americans should be "very worried about" the prospect of the mutant virus, or others yet undetected, gaining a foothold on U.S. soil.
The COVID-19 surge in Brazil is being driven both by the highly-infectious P-1 strain that was first detected in that country, and a highly-criticized government response to the pandemic. The variant has already been found in more than half of U.S. states.
As CBS News correspondent Manuel Bojorquez reports, the situation in Brazil's biggest city, Sao Paulo, and across the country, is dire. When the P-1 variant started taking hold last month, hospital intensive care units in more than half of Brazil's states were already at 90% capacity, or more.
CBS News witnessed firsthand how the situation appears to be getting even worse, pushing Brazil's robust health care system to the brink. Every single patient at Sao Paulo's Hospital Geral de Vila Penteado suffers from COVID-19. There's no room for any others.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/brazil-covid-variant-cases-deaths-united-states-coronavirus/
50 Shades Of Blue
(9,770 posts)I_UndergroundPanther
(12,450 posts)Created as we type.
And I hope there is none of the rationing bullshit like what has been done with the vaccine rollout. I hope I can go to the pharmacy near me and get the shot. No drama,no competition,no bullshit. None of this crazy sign up online shit.
I hope people have learned the roll out of the vaccine does not have to be the way it was. Look at the polio vaccine rollout. It can be done.
And capitalism better learn how to handle crisis and people have learned
hard lessons about capitalism's limits and failures.
crimycarny
(1,351 posts)What is the vaccination rate in Brazil versus US? At this point I just need to focus on what is in my control and tune out the dire warnings which may or may not come to pass. I dont mean that as a criticism to this post, just that Ive seen so many headlines predicting dire outcomes that Ive had to stop reading them since there isnt much we can do except what we already are which is to vaccinate as many people as possible.
Im also keeping tabs on antivirals because I think those will be key in battling mutations.
Edit to add that Brazil has not been dealing with COVID very well from the get go and are lagging on vaccine deployment compared to other developed countries. All I can say is THANK GOD Biden won in 2020.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/health-care-collapse-imminent-brazil-s-sao-paulo-warns-as-covid-19-cases-surge-1.5387213
JI7
(89,172 posts)MerryBlooms
(11,728 posts)protect those I love and care for. I live in a hellhole trump county in Oregon. We're over a year into this plague, and the maskholes and anti vax folks are worse than they were at the beginning.
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)I'm fully vaxed by a few weeks & am continuing to mask & social distance. Have no intention of slacking off!
MustLoveBeagles
(11,563 posts)BigmanPigman
(51,430 posts)"One factor that may be helping California for reasons not fully understood is the presence of the California variant. The California variant here might be helping to keep a lid on the U.K. variant, which is believed to be more transmissible than the conventional strains of the coronavirus and likely results in more severe illness and, as a result, a greater chance of death."
"A big factor in the Midwest surge is the presence of the U.K. variant, which now accounts for about 70% of Michigans and Minnesotas new coronavirus cases, Rutherford said. Michigan is now seeing its hospitals under pressure from surges of patients, and some hospitals in the state are canceling nonemergency procedures and enacting pandemic surge plans, the Detroit Free Press reported."
"One bright side, however, is that the cluster in New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Connecticut seems to be starting to turn the corner a little bit, Rutherford said."
"The California variant is believed to be 20% more transmissible than the conventional coronavirus strains, but the U.K. variant is thought to be 50% more transmissible and more likely to cause worse illness. Its possible that California will eventually be dominated by the U.K. variant, Rutherford said. But for right now, we have way more of the [California variant], he said."
"The vaccines now approved in the U.S. have proved themselves to be very effective and very safe, experts say. And the variants that pose a relatively higher risk of being resistant to vaccines the South African and Brazilian variants have yet to establish a firm hold in the U.S."
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-04-12/california-coronavirus-variant-preventing-spring-surge-herd-immunity