Pregnant women and their unborn babies dying in Brazil as COVID deaths set to pass 500k mark

Published

4 years ago

June 18, 2021

admin

Brazil is likely to pass the awful mark of 500,000 COVID-related deaths in the next two days. Only the United States has a higher number of dead across the world.

Currently averaging 2,500 deaths a day, Brazil’s P1 variant has long been identified as a highly virulent cause for concern, prompting travel bans to most countries.

But researchers in Sao Paulo, one of the worst-hit cities in the country, say the P1 variant has started infecting and killing pregnant women and their unborn children in startling numbers.

Currently 42 pregnant women die every week from COVID-19; many more women are being intubated and their premature children delivered by caesarean section without consultation with obstetricians, according to medical researchers at the Brazilian Obstetric Observatory.

Dr Rossana Pulcineli Vieira Francisco from the observatory said: “The virus transmissibility is higher with this variant and I think the big problem is that the health system for maternal care in Brazil is very bad.

“In some states the patient starts treatment in one hospital, a general hospital, and when her condition starts to worsen, and she needs to deliver the baby, she will be transported while intubated because they’re not at the right hospital to do the delivery.”

This, she believes, is part of the reason Brazil is seeing a higher rate of maternal mortality.

She says obstetricians and intensivists should be working together to find the right outcomes for mother and child, otherwise it will be very difficult to stop maternal mortality during COVID.

“I think we have more cases because of the variant, and because our maternal health system is very fragile, we have this result.”

I asked her if it’s a perfect storm.

“Yes”, she replied, “and I think our only chance to stop this is the vaccine.”

The data from her and her colleagues’ research reveals that last year 10 pregnant women were dying each week from COVID-19.

This year, with the emergence of the new variant, the new figure is more than 40 per week.

Poor medical care and facilities already contributed to a high death rate for pregnant women in Brazil of 55 per 100,000 women. In Britain the figure is just 9.7.

But Dr Francisco says their research so far indicates that with COVID-19 as a factor the new number could double to over 100 per 100,000 by the end of the year.

The high overall transmission of the P1 variant (it accounts for nine in 10 coronavirus cases in Sao Paulo) combined with an overwhelmed health service, puts pregnant women at extreme risk.

The practice of intubating pregnant women and delivering the baby while the mother is in a highly stressed condition is criticised by the researchers as a “bad outcome” for both the mother and her child.

For their part, doctors working in overstretched public hospitals prioritise the life of the mother over the child and without extensive experience of intubating anyone, let alone pregnant women, they have little choice but to deliver the baby while saving the mother.

In Jardim Almeida Prado, a poor neighbourhood in the south of the city of Sao Paulo, Thais Ferreira de Lomes looks down at her tiny three-month-old baby Ezequiel, who has just been released from hospital.

Ezequiel was born 12 weeks prematurely, after Thais was intubated.

Previously fit and healthy, like most people, Thais and her family thought she was in no danger when the first symptoms of COVID developed, but they were wrong.

When her kidneys failed, the doctors said she wouldn’t live to see her third child.

She’s still scarred by her near-death experience – her uncle had died of COVID when she first got sick.

“It was great to come home, see my family, and know that God gave me the opportunity to live again,” she tearfully told me.

“Seeing so many people dying, so many people dying like my uncle died with COVID. Many people are dying with COVID.”

Even though she is over the worst of her experience, she is scared for her and her children’s futures, and worries Ezequiel might still get coronavirus.

“Even today I’m afraid because he’s tiny, he was born prematurely. I told my mother-in-law that it’s hard for me to look at him and not think that something might happen.”

At the Graiau Hospital, the maternity ward and its premature babies section where Ezequiel was cared for, are currently free of COVID cases, but doctors and nurses have no expectation that it is going to stay this way – other hospitals in the city are still treating infants with COVID-19 and their sick mothers.

Dr Patricia Sella, the medical coordinator for gynaecology – and the doctor who treated baby Ezequiel – says she has no doubt that the P1 variant, sweeping across the country, is infecting young pregnant women like she hasn’t seen before.

“In 2021 we observed an increase in pregnant women affected by COVID, likely because of the new strain.

“In 2020, in our hospital mainly, we had a very small number of pregnant women with COVID, but this year we have at least one pregnant woman hospitalised with COVID every week,” she explained to me, standing in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit.

She puts this down to the high infection rate of the P1 variant.

“So, actually, I think that with the change in the strain, we saw that the inflammatory process, [and] the vasculitis caused by the virus is much greater, right, and that ended up changing, bringing it to pregnant women.

“[Pregnant women] already have decreased lung compliance due to the pregnancy itself and the evolution of the pregnancy. With the COVID infection, this ends up getting worse.

“What we observed is that this strain ended up infecting pregnant women who do not have any other pre-existing conditions, so they do not have hypertension, and do not have diabetes during pregnancy. We observed that there was an increase and an increase in severity of the cases.”

In the middle-class suburb of Jardim America, Douglas Silverio proudly shows off the latest addition to his family, three-month-old Maria Helena.

She has two elder brothers Pedro, five, and Bento, three, who run around their home playing with toys while their grandmother prepares lunch.

She now lives with the family because her daughter and the children’s mother, Vanessa, is dead; killed by COVID-19.

Vanessa was just 33 when coronavirus struck.

Within five days she deteriorated and was intubated, and Maria Helena was delivered by caesarean section, coincidentally on her dad’s birthday.

Vanessa never recovered.

“I told my sons, ‘let’s say goodbye to her’.

“Pedro, who is five years old, cried too, and he said, ‘goodbye mother, you are going to heaven’.

“The youngest one did not understand what happened. And it was crazy, that was a crazy time, because we had prayed a lot for the baby, a lot of prayers from our family, but I was not ready to bury my wife in this process.”

On the day Douglas held mass for his wife’s death, baby Maria Helena was released from hospital.

He wants everyone to fear COVID and to listen to the warnings about the disease.

“I miss my wife. And she was my friend, we had a lot of plans together.

“I get scared when I see on the streets some pregnant women without masks. I say to them please take care of yourself.”

The entire medical profession in Brazil now acknowledges that the only way to fight the virus and to stop the country being a petri dish for creating COVID-19 variants that will continue to threaten the world, is for the country’s vaccination programme to speed up and reach all members of society.

The rollout is currently very slow and so far has only started to include 56-year-olds in Sao Paulo.

Many in the profession directly blame the country’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, for the country’s poor response to the pandemic.

He still refuses to take the vaccine, has continuously played down the danger of coronavirus and still discourages the use of face masks anywhere.

The identification of the virus as a specific threat to young pregnant women has set off the alarm bells here that COVID-19 variants are attacking younger and younger members of society, who were previously thought to be relatively safe from serious illness.

World

Manhunt after shooting at Brussels underground station

Published

6 hours ago

February 5, 2025

admin

Manhunt after shooting at Brussels underground station

Belgian police have launched a manhunt after a shooting near an underground station in the capital.

It happened outside Clemenceau metro station in Brussels at around 6.15am local time on Wednesday, according to local media reports.

Clemenceau, Trone and Gare de l’Ouest underground stations are closed to the public as police search for the perpetrators in the tunnels of the city’s metro system, The Brussels Times reported.

CCTV footage showed two people walking into the station and opening fire, according to the Reuters news agency. It said it could not immediately verify the images.

“The suspects fled in the direction of the metro station and may still be in the tunnel between the Clemenceau and Midi stations,” a police spokesperson told Belga News Agency.

“The Brussels Midi police and the federal railway police are searching the area. No one was injured in the shooting.”

Images showed emergency services, including firefighters and paramedics, at the scene and a police cordon in place.

Several tram and metro lines have also been shut on the heavily used underground system.

Clemenceau metro station is near Brussels-Midi Station – the arrival point for Eurostar trains from London and Paris.

World

Trump says US will take over Gaza and all Palestinians should relocate

Published

7 hours ago

February 5, 2025

admin

Trump says US will take over Gaza and all Palestinians should relocate

The US will take over Gaza and “own it”, Donald Trump has said.

Speaking alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, he said the two million Palestinian people living in the territory, which he described as a “demolition site”, would go to “various domains”.

Asked about deploying US troops to fill a potential security vacuum, the president replied: “We’ll do what is necessary.”

Expanding on plans for the territory, he said the US would “develop it, create thousands and thousands of jobs” and turn it into “something the entire Middle East can be very proud of”.

The president reiterated his suggestion from 25 January that Palestinians could be relocated to Egypt and Jordan – something both countries, other Arab nations including Saudi Arabia, and Palestinian leaders, have rejected.

Palestinians in Gaza could go to countries beyond Jordan and Egypt too, he said.

Follow latest: Trump accused of ‘openly calling for ethnic cleansing’

Asked whether he thought Egypt and Jordan would accept Palestinians, he said he believed they would.

But, he added: “I hope we could do something where they wouldn’t want to go back. Who would want to go back?

“They’ve experienced nothing but death and destruction.”

Saudi Arabia immediately responded, stressing its rejection of attempts to displace Palestinians from Gaza, and insisted it would not establish relations with Israel without a Palestinian state.

👉 Follow Trump 100 on your podcast app 👈

Asked on what authority the US could take control of Gaza, Mr Trump told reporters he sees a “long term ownership position” which would, he claimed, bring stability to that part of the Middle East.

“This was not a decision made lightly,” he said.

“Everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land, developing and creating thousands of jobs.”

It would be the “Riviera of the Middle East”.

He continued: “I’ve studied it. I’ve studied this very closely over a lot of months, and I’ve seen it from every different angle.”

He does not believe Palestinians should return to Gaza because it is a “guarantee that they’re going to end up dying”.

He talked about finding a “beautiful area to resettle people, permanently, in nice homes where they can be happy and not be shot and not be killed and not be knifed to death like what’s happening in Gaza”.

The war, triggered by Hamas carrying out a massacre of 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage during the 7 October 2023 attacks in Israel, has temporarily stopped since the long-sought ceasefire deal came into effect on 19 January.

More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Hamas’s attack, according to local authorities.

Mr Netanyahu, the first world leader to meet Mr Trump since the pro-Israel president’s return to the White House, sat beside the Republican as he answered questions from the press.

Trump relocation call will horrify Palestinians

President Trump has a habit of saying the quiet stuff out loud. And the proud global disrupter did just that today with his breathtaking announcement. Critics will say he is either ignoring history, is indifferent to it or is ignorant of it.

But if President Trump is to be taken at face value then he is set to repeat history – the history of American occupation of the Middle East and the history of Palestinian displacement.

It would end the prospect of a two-state solution – Israelis and Palestinians living side by side on the same land. It could also wreck any prospects of diplomatic normalisation between Israel and Gulf Arab states.

Nations like Saudi Arabia wouldn’t stand for such a permanent resettlement and probably wouldn’t trust any resettlement presented as ‘temporary’ – which this is conspicuously not.

The two countries being told to take the people of Gaza – Egypt and Jordan – have firmly refused to do so. The American president seems convinced they will roll over.

Maybe though this is part of Trump’s art of the deal: to suggest something, then not follow through – and present that as a concession down the line.

There’s something else too.

Even if Israeli PM Netanyahu believes it’s a plan that can’t work and could further the cries of ethnic cleansing (it’s notable that he didn’t add his overt support to it alongside Trump) the president’s plan will certainly help him domestically where his future is fragile.

Netanyahu can dangle ‘permanent relocation’ in front of the real hardliners in his government who keep him in power.

Whatever is at play here, the announcement today will horrify Palestinians and it will delight and embolden the hardline elements of Israeli society who have dreamt of a Jewish state free of Palestinians.

‘Plans change with time’

The US president hinted he would seek an independent Palestinian state as part of a broader two-state solution to the decades-long Israel-Palestine conflict.

“Well, a lot of plans change with time,” he told reporters when he was asked if he was still committed to a plan similar to the one he spelled out in 2020 that described a possible Palestinian state.

That plan proposed a series of Palestinian enclaves surrounded by an enlarged Israel, did not have the Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem, but suggested a Palestinian capital on the outskirts of the city.

“A lot of death has occurred since I left and now came back. Now we are faced with a situation that’s different – in some ways better and in some ways worse. But we are faced with a very complex and difficult situation that we’ll solve,” he said.

On the likelihood of getting a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, Mr Trump said: “We are dealing with a lot of people, and we have steps to go yet, as you know, and maybe those steps go forward, and maybe they don’t.

“We’re dealing with a very complex group of people, situation and people, but we have the right man. We have the right leader of Israel. He’s done a great job.”

Mr Trump was also asked whether he should get the Nobel Peace Prize.

He said: “They will never give me a Nobel Peace Prize. It’s too bad. I deserve it, but they will never give it to me.”

World

Worst mass shooting in Sweden’s history as around 10 killed at adult education centre

Published

19 hours ago

February 4, 2025

admin

Worst mass shooting in Sweden's history as around 10 killed at adult education centre

Swedish police have said around 10 people have been killed at an adult education centre, in what the country’s prime minister said is the worst mass shooting in Sweden’s history.

The attack happened at around 12.30pm local time (11.30am UK time) at Campus Risbergska in the town of Orebro, around 200km (125 miles) west of the capital Stockholm.

A spokesperson told a news conference on Tuesday evening that police believe the “primary perpetrator” is dead and acted alone. They do not expect more attacks, the spokesperson added.

Police said they carried out investigations at various addresses in Orebro, with technical personnel working at the scene.

Sweden shooting latest: ‘Everything points to typical loner attack’

“At present, the police believe that the perpetrator acted alone, but we cannot rule out more perpetrators connected to the incident,” the update on the Swedish police’s website said.

Police also said they do not know the motive but do not believe it is terrorism, adding they “had no warning sign” about the attack.

Officers are working to identify the perpetrator and the victims.

The damage at the crime scene was so extensive that investigators were unable to be more definitive on the number killed, said Roberto Eid Forest, head of the local police.

“When it comes to saying anything more about the perpetrator, it is still very early. The operation is ongoing and that will undoubtedly become clearer. But we are working very intensively right now,” Mr Forest said.

He described the attack as a “horrible” incident, calling it “exceptional” and a “nightmare”.

The suspected gunman had not previously been known to police, Mr Forest said..

Speaking at a press conference this evening, Sweden’s prime minister Ulf Kristersson said the tragedy is the worst mass shooting in the country’s history.

“Today, we have witnessed brutal, deadly violence against completely innocent people,” Mr Kristersson told reporters.

“This is the worst mass shooting in Swedish history. Many questions remain unanswered, and I cannot provide those answers either.

“But the time will come when we will know what happened, how it could occur, and what motives may have been behind it. Let us not speculate,” he said.

Meanwhile, the country’s king Carl XVI Gustaf said the shooting was a “terrible atrocity”.

“We send our condolences tonight to the families and friends of the deceased. Our thoughts at this time also go to the injured and their relatives, as well as to others affected.

“My family and I would like to express our great appreciation for the police, rescue and medical personnel who worked intensively to save and protect human lives on this dark day.”

Police earlier urged the public to stay away from the centre as they were searching and evacuating the premises.

At least five people were taken to hospital. Four underwent surgery – one is critically injured, two are stable and one is lightly injured, police said at an earlier news conference.

Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter said police officers had been shot at, but police said no officers had been shot.

The centre is for students over the age of 20, according to its website. It offers primary and upper secondary school courses, as well as Swedish classes for immigrants, vocational training and programmes for people with intellectual disabilities.

Google Maps shows a number of schools for children in the vicinity.

The shooting happened after many students had gone home following a national exam.

Students were taking shelter in nearby buildings and other parts of the campus were evacuated.

Teacher Lena Warenmark told SVT News that there were unusually few students on the campus on Tuesday afternoon after the exam. She also told the broadcaster that she heard probably 10 gunshots.

Andreas Sundling, 28, was among those forced to barricade themselves inside the school.

“We heard three bangs and loud screams,” he told the Expressen newspaper while sheltering in a classroom.

“Now we’re sitting here waiting to be evacuated from the school. The information we have received is that we should sit and wait.”

Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reported one person trapped in the centre as saying: “We have heard several shots outside.”

The newspaper also quoted a person who had received a text from a teacher at the centre saying “there was a shooting with automatic weapons”.

It said local emergency and intensive care departments are being made ready for casualties.

Fatal attacks at educational establishments in Sweden are rare, with 10 killed in seven incidents between 2010 and 2022, according to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention.