Category: P.4
Chile: Santiago goes back into lockdown despite 60% #coronavirus vaccination rate
As of the early hours of this Saturday, 12th June 2021, Santiago de Chile has once again entered quarantine. The entire region begins with the mobility restriction measure when 57.8% of the country’s target population has completed their covid-19 vaccination schedule, but ICUs are on the brink of collapse.
According to the latest figures provided by the Undersecretary of Health, Paula Daza, the occupation of critical beds reaches 96% nationwide. But the vast majority of seriously ill patients are not immunized and there is a worrying decrease in the age of patients admitted to critical beds. Patients under 50 years of age in ICUs have tripled compared to the worst moment of last year, according to ICOVID, an initiative led by the University of Chile, the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and the University of Concepción based on official data . The deaths reach 38,685, between confirmed and suspected.
El Pais report (in Spanish)
Lineage chart courtesy of Outbreak.info
Daily cases chart courtesy of OurworldinData.org
Image by javier alamo from Pixabay
Brazil: new strain of #coronavirus with L452R mutation found in São Paulo interior named P.4
The Brazilian Society of Virology (SBV) yesterday, May 25, confirmed the identification of a new Brazilian coronavirus strain, denominated P4. According to the SBV, the variant has the L452R mutation in the S protein of SARS-CoV-2. According to the SBV, the new variant has been circulating in the region of the São Paulo cities of Mococa, Caconde, and Itapira (close to the border with Minas Gerais), and also in the region of Porto Ferreira .
The L452R mutation in the S protein of SARS-CoV-2 is found in all three sub-lineages of the Indian variant B.1.617 – B.1.617.1, B.1.617.2 and B.1.617.3. There is still no data on whether the new P.4 strain is more transmissible or more lethal than other strains.
The variant of the SARS-Cov-2 coronavirus was detected for the first time in a sample taken in the municipality of Mococa, which is located in the northeast of the state of Sao Paulo.
In addition to Mococa, coronavirus cases caused by the P.4 strain have been registered in municipalities such as Cesário Lange, Porto Ferreira, Santa Cruz das Palmeiras, Tambaú, Itirapina, Rio Claro, Araras, Sumaré, Caconde, Iperó, Capão Bonito , São Miguel Arcanjo, Itapetininga y Descalvado , all located in Sao Paulo.
UK: #coronavirus variant B.1.617.2 within hours of outcompeting B.1.1.7 in Britain
Image by Andrea Meakin from Pixabay