Covid surge in South America as Brazil variant spreads

Uruguay and Paraguay registered record numbers of daily deaths, while the total number of Covid cases surpassed the 13-million mark in Brazil.

The surge has been attributed to the spread of the Brazil variant.

The variant is thought to be more than twice as transmissible as the original.

The P.1, or Brazil, variant has become a cause for concern is because it is thought to be much more contagious than the original strain.

The variant is thought to have emerged in Amazonas state in November 2020, spreading quickly in the state capital Manaus, where it accounted for 73% of cases by January 2021, according to figures analysed by researchers in Brazil.

On 25 March, Peru's health minister said that 40% of cases in the capital, Lima, were caused by the Brazil variant, and on Monday he said that cases had been detected "almost everywhere in Peru".

In Paraguay, health officials said that half of the cases on the border with Brazil were caused by the variant.

Bolivia has also registered cases of the variant and last week ordered the closure of its border with Brazil for at least a week, with a lockdown ordered for the border regions where the cases occurred.

Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro has also blamed a recent spike in cases and deaths on the spread of the Brazil variant.

However, doctors said on Monday that genome sequencing suggested that President Alberto Fernández, who tested positive for Covid on Saturday, did not contract one of the new variants.