Today, the Manaus coronavirus variant pops up in other major urban centers. Brazil will have one eye on Davos, fearing U.S. pressure on climate issues. São Paulo’s restaurateurs plan to defy new coronavirus restrictions.
The new variant spreads across Brazil
Health authorities in São Paulo have confirmed the first three infections by a new variant of the Sars-CoV-2 virus initially found in Manaus, the biggest city in the Amazon basin. This variant has two key mutations that enhance the viral load in patients, making it much more transmissible but not necessarily more lethal.
- Researchers from Brazil and the UK analyzed the genome of viruses collected in patients who tested positive for Covid-19 in Manaus. Until November, this new variant had not yet been identified — but it was seen in 85 percent of samples from January.
Why it matters. This highly-transmissible variant has been blamed for the current collapse of the Manaus health network — nearly one year after the city experienced its first similar crisis — and raises fears among scientists that Brazil could experience a massive wave of reinfections.
How is the virus spreading. With few highways in the Amazon region, Manaus is connected to the rest of...