RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Some 40% of the coronavirus cases detected recently in Lima, Peru, is associated with the variant. In Uruguay, the strain is responsible for 30% of Covid-19 cases, and in Paraguay, half of the cases identified on the border with Brazil are caused by P.1.
According to the World Health Organization (W.H.O.), the P.1. has already been detected in 45 countries, including the United States, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Italy, France, and India.
According to the latest W.H.O. epidemiological bulletin in South America, only Bolivia, Ecuador, Suriname, and Guyana had no recorded cases of the disease stemming from the Brazilian variant.
However, due to the lag in the region’s genomic testing, this does not mean that the strain is not still around. The growing presence of the new variants is associated with the worsening of the pandemic in these countries. Studies show that besides being more transmissible, the mutation seems more dangerous.
It would have spread in the region is not a secret, nor is it difficult to understand. Almost every country in South America has long land borders with Brazil – only Ecuador and Chile do not. In most cases, there is little control in the border cities, and crossing into another country can be as simple as crossing the street.
Experts believe that the only way to control the region’s pandemic is through vaccination, moving slowly in most countries. According to information from the platform Our World in Data, linked to Oxford University, South America has administered only 6% of the world’s vaccine doses.
The situation becomes even more serious when we see that even Chile, which has the best immunization campaign in South America, faces a new disease wave.
Source: Veja