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Hospitals in Brazil’s Amazonas Run Out of Oxygen as Fears of Variant Trigger Travel Bans

HeadlineJan 15, 2021

Over 93 million cases of COVID-19 have now been reported around the world. With confirmed global deaths set to top 2 million, an analysis by The Wall Street Journal finds at least another 820,000 deaths on top of that number were caused by the coronavirus.

In Brazil, officials in Amazonas, the country’s largest state, have imposed a 7 p.m. curfew, and health workers say they are desperate for oxygen supplies and other resources as they face a dramatic surge. Hospitals in the state’s capital, Manaus, are resorting to performing manual ventilation to try to save people’s lives. A local epidemiologist called the situation an “unprecedented calamity.” Officials say a new variant could be partially to blame for the explosion in cases.

Britain is banning travel from much of South America, as well as Portugal, over fears of the variant. Brazil has recorded over 207,000 deaths, the second-highest tally after the U.S.

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