{"id":154843,"date":"2021-01-15T01:00:01","date_gmt":"2021-01-14T22:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/northern-brazilian-state-declares-curfew-over-virus\/"},"modified":"2021-01-15T01:00:01","modified_gmt":"2021-01-14T22:00:01","slug":"northern-brazilian-state-declares-curfew-over-virus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/northern-brazilian-state-declares-curfew-over-virus\/","title":{"rendered":"#Northern Brazilian state declares curfew over virus"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Northern Brazilian state declares curfew over virus<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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Amazonas state in northern Brazil on Thursday announced a curfew to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus, as cases soar and hospitals run out of beds and oxygen supplies.\n <\/p>\n

Authorities warned of a dire situation across the vast state. In its capital Manaus, the health system has been pushed to breaking point.<\/p>\n

The city has “run out of oxygen and some health centers have become a type of suffocation chamber,” Jessem Orellana, from the Fiocruz-Amazonia scientific investigation institute, told AFP.<\/p>\n

Amazonas governor Wilson Lima said the state was “in the most critical moment of the pandemic.”<\/p>\n

The 7:00 pm to 6:00 am curfew will begin Friday.<\/p>\n

According to official figures, Manaus recorded 198 deaths on Wednesday, the fourth day straight it had set a new record.<\/p>\n

Oxygen is needed to treat COVID-19 patients suffering from respiratory complications.<\/p>\n

Amazonas produces “significant quantities of oxygen, but now our people need oxygen and solidarity,” said Lima, who added some patients would be transferred to other states.<\/p>\n

Military personnel delivered 400 oxygen cylinders to Amazonas over the last five days.<\/p>\n

Brazil has recorded more than 205,000 deaths from COVID-19, second only to the United States.<\/p>\n

The national average of deaths is 98 per 100,000 inhabitants but in Amazonas, the figure is 142, surpassed only by Rio de Janeiro (158) and Brasilia (145).<\/p>\n

An expert studying coronavirus mutations in Amazonas told AFP a new strain detected in the state is “very probably” more contagious than the original virus, just like new strains found in Britain and South Africa.<\/p>\n

Felipe Naveca said the variant, which the World Health Organization described as “worrying”, may have spread throughout Brazil and could already be the dominant strain in Amazonas.<\/p>\n

The worsening situation in Manaus was not due only to one variant, he added, noting that authorities were expecting a rise in virus cases due to end-of-year parties.<\/p>\n

“We need urgent support from the population to reduce the transmission and slow down the virus’s evolution,” Naveca said.<\/p>\n

Experts worry new mutations could eventually show resistence to the vaccines developed to combat the original strain.<\/p>\n

However, “right now there’s no evidence that this line prejudices the vaccine’s response,” Naveca said.<\/p>\n

There is concern, though, the new variant could already have spread throughout Brazil and it has been detected as far afield as Japan.<\/p>\n

Britain on Thursday said it was suspending all arrivals from South America due to the new coronavirus variant.\n <\/p>\n\n

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Follow the latest news<\/a> on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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\n \u00a9 2021 AFP<\/p>\n

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\n Northern Brazilian state declares curfew over virus (2021, January 14)
\n retrieved 14 January 2021
\n from https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2021-01-northern-brazilian-state-declares-curfew.html<\/p>\n

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