MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Fourth case of Delta variant in Brazilian state of Paraná concerns Paraguayan authorities

The International Bridge of Friendship across the Paraná River was built in the early 1950s and early 1960s.

Paraguayan authorities Friday voiced their concern over the appearance of four cases of the coronavirus Delta variant in the Brazilian neighboring State of Parana due to the daily crossing of people through the Friendship Bridge linking Foz do Iguazu with Ciudad del Este.

Brazil Friday confirmed the fourth case was detected in a 58-year-old man, also a resident of the city of Apucaraná, located north of the state of Paraná. The man died on May 14 and belonged to the same family of the other three infections.

The patient first had symptoms on April 19, testing positive for Covid-19 on April 26. He was the son of the woman who was the first positive case of the Indian variant of the disease in the state of Paraná and which was confirmed in June, after genomic sequencing at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) in Rio de Janeiro.

According to health authorities, there is still no community transmission because it was a close contact to the first case. This fourth case, according to Epidemiological Surveillance, can already be considered a case of local transmission.

The first case of the delta variant was confirmed through a random selection of samples for genetic sequencing. The presence was confirmed in a 71-year-old woman, who was admitted and discharged and is doing well.

Based on this result, other epidemiological investigations were carried out, reaching a pregnant woman from Japan, who had contact with the first case. The pregnant woman died on April 18, being the second confirmed case.

The third case, which was also confirmed this week, is the husband of the woman from the first case. A 74-year-old man, who had to be hospitalized on May 20 and is being clinically monitored.

From the first case, the Central Laboratory of the State of Paraná (Lacen) selected 234 samples from the region for genomic sequencing, all related to the woman in the first case. Of these, 115 have already had results, confirming three cases, 119 are still under investigation.

The Delta variant had been identified in seven new countries by last week. In the United States, it already represents more than 50% of the sequenced samples.

The International Bridge of Friendship across the Paraná River was built in the early 1950s and early 1960s.