The state of Rio de Janeiro recorded 12,417 new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours and reached the record since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. Until then, the highest single-day figure was on May 6 this year. In the year 9185 was reported by the state health department. The figures reinforce the concern of specialists and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) about the high portability of the delta variant.
This sad sign comes a day after the city of Rio de Janeiro published in the Official Gazette a decree on New Year’s Eve 2022 in the city. It is estimated that the event will be attended by about two million people. Rio de Janeiro tops the country’s delta-variable case ranking, with 203 cases and four deaths.
Researcher at the Institute of Oswaldo Cruz (IOC/Fiocruz), Marilda Sequeira, has warned of the variant’s entry in several states. “We’re not in a comfortable position, let alone Rio. New Year’s Eve is premature. There is no scenario in which we can relax about thinking about reopening,” he said.
Infectious disease doctor Marcos Junqueira do Lago explains that the record of new Covid-19 cases in Rio is directly related to the progression of the delta variable. “Dominate Rio and it will dominate the whole of Brazil, unless (the alternative) is more effective than it appears,” he warned, then offering parallels between what is happening in Rio and what happened in the United Kingdom. “After mass vaccinations at the end of the year in the UK, the number of deaths and cases fell sharply. In July there was an increase, precisely because of Delta.”
Lago noted that in early July, the number of cases infected with the delta variant corresponded to only 1% in the state and today it is up to 40%. For the doctor, the panorama is discouraging, which is why he appealed to government officials. “We have to move slowly. It’s time to open. There is a desire to reopen everything very quickly, party, game, football, New Year’s Eve, carnival … this is not good.”
According to him, one of the explanations for the increase in cases in RJ is tourism and the fact that the city has made almost everything more resilient. “We have a lot of tourist exchanges in Rio, which is a much less controlled activity than other commercial activities. This exchange made the variable progress on a larger scale.”
In numbers this Saturday, the state of Rio de Janeiro has 1,058,911 cases and 59,959 deaths from Covid-19. It is the seventh state with the highest number of cases and the second by number of deaths in the country.
