Covid-19: Brazil’s spiralling crisis is increasingly affecting young people

Dear Editor
The newly identified Brazilian variant (P.1) is 1.4-2.2 times more transmissible than previous variants [1] and this has already spread to Michigan, USA [2], indicating that it may reach other corners of the world soon if the international flights are not suspended immediately to contain this new variant. This is going to be a big threat for highly populous countries like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh where preventive healthcare measures including hand washing, wearing masks and avoiding gatherings to reduce coronavirus transmission are not being effectively practiced. On one hand, governments cannot impose essential directives very strictly as they cannot provide huge incentive to their people like in western countries; on the other hand, people are also reluctant and to some extent unable to abide by these health rules. It is worth mentioning that about 85% of the population of these countries is younger than 50 years [3]. Most of them need to venture outside daily to earn livelihood due to poor economic condition. This negative attitude towards following health rules is further aggravated by religious perspectives, social mindsets, traditional myths, etc. prevailing in people of these countries. Therefore, different strategies initiated at different times by the governments to minimize the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh seem to function sub-optimally. Area-specific measures are sometimes imposed considering the situation of transmission rate and death counts, however the final outcome is far from satisfactory.
The Brazilian P1 variant has been demonstrated to infect young people at a higher rate and the death rate is also higher [4,5]. It is a matter of grave concern for the Indian subcontinent. Very recently, these countries are experiencing sudden spikes in COVID-19 cases and deaths. Giving the highest priority to the lives of the young, working-age population in this region, governments of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan need to take immediate steps to stop international flights for at least for 2 weeks and to strengthen comprehensive measures so that people follow essential COVID-19 government directives.
References:
1. Faria NR, Mellan TA, Whittaker C, et al. Genomics and epidemiology of a novel SARS-CoV-2 lineage in Manaus, Brazil. 2021. https://github.com/CADDE-CENTRE/Novel-SARS-CoV-2-P1-Lineage-in-Brazil/bl....
2. Derick Hutchinson. Michigan identifies first case of COVID-19 P1 variant from Brazil. Good Health. April 1, 2021, 12:20 pm. https://www.clickondetroit.com/health/good-health/2021/04/01/michigan-id...
3. Sultana F, Reza HM. Are SAARC countries prepared to combat COVID-19 to save young, working-age population? AIMS Public Health, 7(3): 440–449. DOI: 10.3934/publichealth.2020036
4. Castro R. Observatório Covid-19 Fiocruz alerta para rejuvenescimento da pandemia no Brasil [Covid-19 Fiocruz Observatory warns of pandemic rejuvenation in Brazil]. Fiocruz News Agency 2021 Mar 26. https://agencia.fiocruz.br/observatorio-covid-19-fiocruz-alerta-para-rej.... [In Portuguese.]
5. Taylor L. Covid-19: Brazil’s spiralling crisis is increasingly affecting young people. BMJ 2021; 373 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n879 (Published 01 April 2021)Cite this as: BMJ 2021;373:n879.