BFF-51 Brazil closes out deadliest month of pandemic by far

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BFF-51

HEALTH-VIRUS-BRAZIL

Brazil closes out deadliest month of pandemic by far

RIO DE JANEIRO, March 31, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Brazil closed out its
deadliest month of the coronavirus pandemic by far on Wednesday as a
surge of Covid-19 patients overwhelmed hospitals, forcing doctors to
make agonizing decisions over whom to give life-saving care.

With 57,606 Covid-19 deaths from March 1 to 30, the health ministry
recorded 75 percent more fatalities than the second-deadliest month of
the pandemic in Brazil, July 2020.

Full-month figures for March were expected late Wednesday.

“Never in Brazilian history have we seen a single event kill so many
people in 30 days,” said Dr Miguel Nicolelis, coordinator of the
pandemic response team for Brazil’s impoverished northeast.

With the southern hemisphere winter now approaching and the virus
spreading fast, Brazil is facing “a perfect storm,” he told AFP.

That is worrying not just for Brazil but for the rest of the world.

Brazil’s average daily death toll has nearly quadrupled since the
start of the year, to 2,710 this week, the highest by far worldwide.

Health experts say the recent explosion of cases in the sprawling
South American country of 212 million people is partly driven by a
local variant of the virus known as “P1.”

Believed to be more contagious, P1 can re-infect people who have had
the original strain of the virus, and has spread to more than two
dozen countries, including the United States, Britain and Japan.

And as long as the pandemic continues to rage unchecked in Brazil,
there is a risk that more variants could emerge in the country,
researchers say.

President Jair Bolsonaro faces mounting criticism for his handling
of the pandemic.

The far-right leader’s resistance to lockdowns, face masks and
vaccines has caused a firestorm of controversy as Covid-19 has claimed
more than 317,000 lives in Brazil, second only to the United States.

“We’re at the worst moment of the pandemic, and indications are that
April will be very bad, too,” said epidemiologist Ethel Maciel of
Espirito Santo Federal University. With the national vaccination
campaign advancing slowly due to a shortage of doses, “The worst is
yet to come,” she told AFP.

Covid-19 beds in intensive care units are more than 90 percent full
in 18 of Brazil’s 27 states, and another seven states are approaching
that level.

At least 230 patients with suspected or confirmed cases of Covid-19
died waiting for a bed in intensive care in Sao Paulo this month,
according to TV Globo.

“We’re in a very tragic situation,” said Maciel.

BSS/AFP/MRU/2333hrs