Ambulances filled with breathless patients lined up in Brazil, while countries around the world set new records Thursday for COVID-19 deaths and new coronavirus infections. In fact, the disease was on the rise in some countries that have kept the virus under control.
In the United States, Detroit leaders began planning to knock on every door to convince people to get vaccinations.
Brazil became only the third country this week, after the US and Peru, to report a 24-hour count of COVID-19 deaths of more than 4,000India peaked of nearly 127,000 new cases in 24 hours, and Iran set a new record for coronavirus infections for the third consecutive day, which reported nearly 22,600 new cases.
In the state of Rio de Janeiro, emergency services have been under the greatest pressure since the pandemic began, with ambulances transporting patients of all ages to overcrowded hospitals struggling to care for everyone. Authorities say more than 90% of beds in the state’s intensive care unit are taken by COVID-19 patients, and many cities report people dying at home from a lack of available medical treatment.
‘We are already living in the third wave. We have three times more calls, ”said Adriano Pereira, director of mobile emergency services in Duque de Caxias, an impoverished city outside of Rio.
The death toll in Brazil has risen to over 340,000, the second highest total in the world after the US, where nearly 560,000 people have died.
The 14-day moving average of COVID-19 daily deaths in the state of Rio rose from 112 to 207 between March 1 and April 7, with some health analysts expecting even worse days in the coming weeks. Many hospitals warn of the risk of oxygen deficiencies and sedatives for intubation.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to get vaccinated and wrote in a tweet: “Vaccination is one of the few ways we have to beat the virus. If you are a candidate for the vaccine, you should get an injection quickly. “
The US now has nearly 20% of the adult population fully vaccinated, and New Mexico became the first state to get shot in the arms of 25% of its residents – milestones that are a long way off for many hard-hit countries.
In India, home to 1.4 billion people, only 11 million are fully vaccinated. According to Our World in Data, an online research site, in Brazil, less than 3% of the country’s 210 million residents have received both doses.
South Korea reported 700 more cases, the highest daily jump since January 5. Health authorities were expected to announce measures to strengthen social distance after a meeting on Friday.
In Thailand, which reported just 95 deaths in the pandemic, health officials reported the first local cases of the coronavirus variant in the country. first discovered in Great Britain. The news comes at a time when only 1% of the population has been vaccinated and as Thais prepare to celebrate the traditional Songkran New Year holiday next week, usually a time of widespread travel.
That variant is more contagious, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week that it is now the most common variant in the United States, voicing concerns that it will cause infections and cause more people to get sick.
Michigan has an average of more than 7,000 new cases per day – a number that makes the state second in the country behind New York. Michigan also has the highest number of new cases per capita, with 1 in 203 residents of the state being diagnosed with COVID-19 between March 31 and April 7, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
In Detroit, which is about 80% black, officials said they plan to visit homes to talk about the importance of protecting against the virus with vaccinations and how to sign up to receive the injections.
“We’re going to knock on every living door in town to make sure every Detroiter knows how to make an appointment,” Victoria Kovari, an executive assistant to Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, told The Detroit News.
According to Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services, only 22% of Detroit residents have received at least one dose of vaccine, compared to 38% for all of Michigan.
Other Midwestern states have seen troubling signs in recent days, including a school district in Iowa where 127 students and five staff members tested positive for the coronavirus or are believed to be positive.
In Massachusetts, where the seven-day moving average of daily new cases has risen to more than 2,100 new cases per day, the Massachusetts Public Health Association called on the Charlie Baker Republican government to reinstate public health measures. The group urged Baker to limit indoor eating and other indoor activities, saying the increase in cases and hospitalizations followed Baker’s decision to relax those restrictions.
“We are currently in a race between the vaccines and the variants,” said Carlene Pavlos, the group’s director Thursday. “Without these public health measures, even more innocent lives will be unnecessarily lost.”
Associated Press writers Felipe Dana in Rio de Janeiro, Mauricio Savarese in São Paulo and Corey Williams in Detroit contributed to this report.