RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil’s health minister Eduardo Pazuello said on Monday, January 18th, that a spiking COVID-19 outbreak in the Amazonian city of Manaus was not tied to a new variant of the virus, and was instead the same coronavirus that caused the first wave of the disease.
Manaus has made headlines in recent days for its high death rate and a shortage of oxygen tanks for patients who develop severe cases of COVID-19.