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Brazil faces “very serious situation” in pandemic: WHO – Metro US

Brazil faces “very serious situation” in pandemic: WHO

Outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Duque de Caxias
Outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Duque de Caxias

GENEVA (Reuters) – A number of states in Brazil are in critical condition and hospitals are overwhelmed by the COVID-19 pandemic, World Health Organization epidemiologist Maria van Kerkhove told a briefing on Thursday.

“Indeed there is a very serious situation going on in Brazil right now, where we have a number of states in critical condition,” she said, adding that many hospital intensive care units are more than 90% full.

Brazil, where a more transmissible virus variant is circulating, has become an epicenter of the pandemic.

(Reporting by Silke Koltrowitz and Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Michael Shields)