The UK government announced that travellers coming from Portugal and South America are banned from entering the country after a new variant of Covid-19 was found in Brazil.
Travellers from Argentina; Bolivia; Brazil; Chile; Columbia; Ecuador; French Guinea; Guyana; Peru; Suriname; Uruguay and Venezuela have been banned from entering the UK. Portugal was included in the ban “given its strong links with Brazil,” said Grant Shapps, secretary of state for Transport.
British, Irish and foreign nationals with resident rights can still travel home but must isolate for ten days upon arrival. In a speech last Wednesday the Prime Minister said he was “very concerned” about the new strain.
Felipe Naveca, deputy director of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation said the strain is separate to the other variants detected in the UK and South Africa but shows some of the same mutations. Coronavirus has mutated and evolved as the pandemic has spread.
But what makes this variant different?
The Brazillian variant carries the mutation E484K which means there is a change in coronavirus’ genetic code. This has made the virus more contagious. While there is no greater risk of serious illness, it does mean the virus is more transmissible which is still a great cause for concern. A greater rate of transmission means more hospital admissions and a higher death toll. It is the possible magnitude of cases that is the risk.
How is Brazil coping with the virus?
Coronavirus cases are ballooning in Brazil. There are currently 7.2 million cases and over 200,000 deaths. In June the virus was responsible for 1000 deaths a day. Cases then began to drop, however by December the second wave had hit and the death toll was yet again in its thousands per day.
By early December, Hospitals in Rio De Janeiro, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte and Manaus were at capacity, leaving thousands unable to access care needed to beat the virus. The virus has had a devastating effect on Brazil’s healthcare workers, With dozens of staff dying from the disease, contracted whilst at work.
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro and the ministry of health has not presented a comprehensive plan to fight the virus. In particular the country has been criticized for its failure to set up an effective track and trace system, with less than a million tests per day of a population of 213 million.This has in turn deepend political polarisation in the country. Poorer cities have also been disproportionately affected in comparison to richer ones.
Mr Bolsonaro has been vocal about not wanting to take a vaccine against Covid-19. His views on the pandemic have been controversial. Following pressure to reintroduce restrictive measures when the second wave hit, he told reporters in Brazil: “We have to stop being a country of sissies” and that “all of us are going to die one day”.
The total number of UK deaths currently stands at 97,939, making it the worst affected country in Europe.