Brasilia, March 4 (RHC)-- Brazil reported over 1,900 COVID deaths Wednesday, breaking its previous record death toll set just one day earlier.  Brazil has topped a quarter of a million deaths, the second highest in the world after the U.S. 

A highly infectious coronavirus variant that crippled the health system in Manaus has spread elsewhere in Brazil and has been identified in at least two dozen other countries, including the United States.  It appears to be more likely to reinfect people who have already had COVID-19. São Paulo, Brazil’s most populous state, is going into a two-week lockdown.  São Paulo Governor João Doria blamed President Jair Bolsonaro for the mounting crisis, saying: “This is your fault.  It’s because of your denialism.”

Vaccines being delivered under the COVAX initiative have arrived in several more African nations this week, including Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Rwanda and Sudan.  So far, some 10 million doses have been delivered to 14 countries as part of COVAX, which helps less wealthy nations procure vaccines.