03/12/2021 4:19 PM
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 03/12/2021 17:03
Brazilian scientists discovered a new variant of the coronavirus.
It is the third mutation that is registered in that country and
has a high contagion capacity
, since it has spread to many regions of that country.
The finding was reported this Friday in a joint communication between five institutions coordinated by the National Laboratory for Scientific Computing (LNCC).
Simultaneously, the same mutation was described in an independent study by researchers from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), confirms
O Globo
.
The new variant of Covid-19 would have appeared in August and has
already spread to states in all regions of Brazil
, except the Midwest.
This mutation has a different origin from the Brazilian strains P1 and P2, which cause alarm throughout the world, especially the former.
The Pronto Socorro hospital in Brasilia, on the verge of sanitary collapse.
Photo: EFE
Brazil records more than
2,000 deaths a day
from coronavirus, while the total fatality is rapidly approaching 300,000.
The country has the second highest death toll in the world, behind the United States.
Experts warn that the transmission rate worsens with the most contagious variants.
This Thursday, the state of São Paulo announced the imposition of a
night curfew
and the suspension of sports tournaments to face "the most critical moment" of the pandemic.
The "Emergency Phase", announced at a press conference by the São Paulo governor, Joao Doria, will run from March 15 to 30.
It includes a curfew between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m., and a
ban on the use of parks and beaches
.
The Secretary of Health of São Paulo, Jean Gorinchteyn, explained that the tightening was due to the worrying
increase in the occupation of beds
in intensive units in the richest and most populous state in the country (46.2 million inhabitants).
"With the acceleration of the pandemic, which ruthlessly attacks a greater number of people in less time, our hospitals are beginning to be compromised, with
100% occupancy in several of them,
" he explained.
The average occupancy is 87.6%.
Look also
Unbridled coronavirus in Brazil: São Paulo imposed a curfew and suspended tournaments to stop the pandemic