By Gistflash News
July 24, 2021
Health authorities in Brazil recorded more than 100,000 new coronavirus infections within one day on Friday, after a state belatedly submitted tens of thousands of case numbers.
The figure stood at 108,732 new infections within one day after the southern-most state of Rio Grande do Sul updated its coronavirus data collected over 500 days and submitted 64,000 new cases all at once.
The day before, Brazil had registered about 50,000 new cases.
In total, more than 19.6 million people in Latin America’s largest country have been confirmed to have been infected with the virus.
Officials in Rio de Janeiro on Friday warned that the Delta variant could spread rapidly after the first deaths from the highly contagious coronavirus strain were recorded in the city.
“It is expected that the Delta variant will soon become dominant in the city,’’ Rio city Health Secretary, Daniel Soranz, said at a press conference.
The city extended restrictions, including compulsory mask-wearing, until Aug. 9.
On Thursday, four deaths linked to the Delta strain were recorded in the state of Rio de Janeiro.
The four, who died outside of the city, were not fully vaccinated.
More than 130 million vaccine doses have been administered since the nationwide vaccination campaign began in January.
About 40 per cent of adult Brazilians have received a single dose, and about 17 per cent are fully vaccinated.
In view of the lack of vaccines, however, Rio de Janeiro and other major cities have again suspended giving out initial vaccinations against the coronavirus.
Until now, the Gamma variant has been dominant in the Brazilian city.
The Delta variant was first discovered in India and is considered particularly contagious.
According to current trends, it will become the dominant variant worldwide in the coming months.
More than 534,000 people have died in Brazil after contracting Covid-19.
dpa/NAN
