COVID-19 Air

Posted on by Thor

The U.S. lifted restrictions November 8, 2021 on travel from 33 countries, including the U.K., (9,333,891 COVID cases) South Africa, (2,924,072 COVID cases) Brazil, (21,886,077 COVID cases) Mexico, (3,827,596 COVID cases) Canada, (1,735,017 COVID cases) and most of Europe. In Europe there is a surge in COVID-19  infections, alarming health officials and sparking fears that the continent could be engulfed by a new wave of the pandemic this winter.

Travelers must show proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test. I am certain that Florida‘s Governor Ron DeathSantis will take issue with these vaccination passports and will fight these airlines insisting every unvaccinated person in the world should  be allowed into the state. He has already been fighting tooth and nail with the cruise industry. But he lost that lawsuit.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC) the U.S. will accept travelers who have been fully vaccinated with any of the vaccines approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization, (WHO) not just those in use in the U.S. That means that the AstraZeneca vaccine, widely used in Canada, will be accepted. Though vaccinations are required, there are exemptions for travelers under age 18 and passengers from countries with low vaccination availability. In other words, if the country hasn’t vaccinated many people, then hey, come on in anyway, and don’t bother taking any precautions because this is “Merica.”

A Wave of Maternal Deaths

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The Guardian reported that Brazil has recorded 803 pregnant and postpartum deaths since February 2020. Authorities are warning women to delay pregnancy. “If possible, (the women should) postpone the pregnancy a bit to a better time so that (they) can have a more peaceful pregnancy,” Secretary of Primary Health Care of the Brazilian health ministry Raphael Camara said April 16, 2021.

23-year-old, Maria Laura Prucoli,  died from COVID-19 after her daughter Lavínia, was delivered by emergency C-section in Rio’s deprived outskirts.

On April 23, 2021,  a 20-year-old woman who was seven months pregnant died in the midwestern state of Mato Grosso after waiting four days for an intensive care bed.

A study suggested that 77.5% of the world’s Covid-related maternal deaths had occurred in Brazil. The pandemic deepened historically high rates of maternal deaths. Some suspect new forms of coronavirus, such as the P1 variant linked to the Brazilian Amazon, may also be partly responsible although there is still no concrete evidence of this.

Last year, most victims were non-white women from poor areas with risk factors such as diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease. This year, white women with no risk factors have been dying as well. the health ministry this week include them in the priority vaccination group. So far, however, fewer than 10% of Brazilians have received two doses meaning most pregnant women will face a long wait.

Bolsanaro

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Brazil has surpassed the United States with 2,000 Covid-related deaths in a single day for the first time, as infection rates soar.

President Jair Bolsonaro has downplayed the threat from the virus from the start. Earlier this week he told people to “stop whining“. Bolsonaro is more of a buffoon and threat to public health than Trump once was.

Across Brazil, intensive care units (ICU) are at more than 80% capacity, according to Margareth Dalcolmo, a doctor and researcher at Fiocruz. In 15 state capitals, ICUs are at more than 90% capacity, including in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

Reports say the capital Brasilia has now reached full ICU capacity, while two cities – Porto Alegre and Campo Grande – have exceeded capacity.

Brazilian epidemiologist Dr. Pedro Hallal told the BBC World Service‘s Outside Source programme: “If we do not start vaccinating the population here very soon, it will become a massive tragedy.” Brazil is facing its biggest crisis since the pandemic began – but still, it feels like people are trying to ignore it.

The surge in cases in recent days has been attributed to the spread of a highly contagious variant of the virus – named P1 – which is thought to have originated in the Amazon city of Manaus. People who had been infected by the COVID virus and recovered are being re-infected by the new variant. The worry is that the P1 variant is a looming threat over the progress made in the region and the world. Scientists are hopeful that, if necessary, vaccines can be tweaked to work against new variants.

Bolsenaro’s Health Minister, General Eduardo Pazuello, lacks public health expertise and supports Bolsonaro’s push to use unproven drugs to fight COVID-19, while downplaying the need for social distancing. Two previous Health Ministers had resigned because they could not in good conscience promote the use of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine. Pazuello was unable to secure timely supplies of vaccines for the country. “Having vaccinated too few people, the result has been “catastrophic,” said Dr. Ludhmila Hajjar, a cardiologist. Cheap flights fro Brazil to Florida can be found on Kyack for $162. The first case of the P1 variant was reported in Florida on February 18, 2021. An outbreak of this virus anywhere in the world in an outbreak of the virus everywhere in the world. Happy Spring Break folks.