By Pedro Fonseca
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazil is facing a new wave of COVID cases as the football-crazy country gathers en masse to watch the World Cup, with new coronavirus subvariants and delayed vaccine boosters sounding alarm bells among public fitness specialists.
On World Cup training days, many Brazilians take time off to go to bars and restaurants or gather for barbecues at home to watch matches, cheering on a national team at its sixth world championship in Qatar.
New COVID cases in Brazil increased last week by 230% from early November to a point noted since August, according to official figures. Related deaths rose to 116 on Tuesday from a single figure in October.
“In each and every encounter, there is a strong transmission option, because it is very easy to catch,” said Margareth Dalcolmo of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, a center for biomedical studies in Rio de Janeiro.
Brazilian fitness regulator ANVISA announced last Tuesday that face masks would be needed at airports and on all flights to prevent the spread of the virus.
Tuesday also approved the use of two new vaccines made by Pfizer Inc that protect against the subvariants of Omicron BA. 1 and BA. 4/BA. 5 and the original virus, to be used as boosters.
Experts say the delay in launching vaccines to combat new, highly infectious variants has added to the surge in infections.
Nearly 690,000 Brazilians have died from COVID, the world’s second-highest official figure in the United States.
The new infections in Brazil are mainly caused by the BQ. 1 strain of the BA. 5 strain of the Omicron subvariant, causing milder symptoms in fully vaccinated people. Most likely resulting in fewer deaths than previous waves, hospitals are receiving an increasing number of patients, fitness officials said.
As Brazil makes its debut in Qatar on Thursday, experts have asked enthusiasts to wear masks if they are indoors and take all mandatory hygiene precautions for contagion.
(Report through Pedro Fonseca; Writing through Anthony Boadle; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
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