Cautionary tale in Brazil and Europe.. Is America's third wave coming?

This Reuters dispatch March 17 is now recorded for history:

Brazil on Wednesday registered 90,303 new coronavirus cases, a new record, a day after the country reported a fresh record for deaths related to the virus. Infections now total 11,693,838.

The dramatic surge in that nation is making a continent wary of what the future may hold..

Various states in the US of A are withdrawing restrictions..easing distancing.. ditching masks. Heck some locations are even happily burning them on state capitol steps..

But this BRAZIL problem..
This Europe problem.

Is this their problem or could it become everyone's?

X X X 

This is how an AP dispatch reports the mood today:

Optimism is spreading in the U.S. as COVID-19 deaths plummet and states ease restrictions and open vaccinations to younger adults. But across Europe, dread is setting in with another wave of infections that is closing schools and cafes and bringing new lockdowns.

The pandemic’s diverging paths on the two continents can be linked in part to the much more successful vaccine rollout in the U.S. and the spread of more contagious variants in Europe.

Poland’s rate of new COVID-19 cases has more than doubled since February..

Italy closed most of its classrooms at the beginning of this week and expanded areas where restaurants and cafes can do only takeout or delivery. The country’s health experts say they’re seeing an increasing number of patients who are middle-aged and younger.

In France, officials imposed weekend lockdowns around the French Riviera in the south and the English Channel in the north, and are preparing new restrictions for the Paris region and perhaps beyond to be announced Thursday. 

Serbia announced a nationwide lockdown for the rest of the week, closing all nonessential shops and businesses.

x x x 

Meanwhile..

DATELINE US: 

After weeks of declining cases, echoes of hot spots emerge in Upper Midwest, New York City area

Michigan has seen a rise in hospitalizations and positive test results. Minnesota’s numbers are creeping up, as are Maryland’s and New Jersey’s. Many places, including New York City and surrounding counties, are no longer seeing steady declines in cases, despite intensive vaccination efforts.

“There’s a resurgence going on here,” said disease tracker David Rubin, director of PolicyLab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. It is too soon to call this a “wave,” and he does not foresee a return to the level of cases reported during the winter, he said. But Rubin said cases are flat or creeping up in much of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic and parts of the Upper Midwest.

THE B1 BOMBER

This is what Epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding is mostly worried about lately.  If you don't know who he is, he was the expert who had a holy Mary Mother of God tweet in January 2020 where he warned of what COVID was about to do..

His new fresher warnings deal with Brazil and how younger people--much younger--are now getting sick and dying from the newest variant ..

Brazil's latest #COVID19 wave is becoming tragic beyond measure. 🇧🇷 has “plunged into crisis”. Patients are dying waiting for ICU beds. #P1 variant is 2-2.5x faster transmission. More younger 20-30s patients now dying, unlike before.🧵

Thx @MattRiversCNNpic.twitter.com/zqEzlav4Ix

— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) March 17, 2021

Feigl-Ding takes this so seriously, he Tweeted this tonight: If you somehow still don’t believe Brazil’s #P1 surge is a serious threat to the world, please unfollow me.

DEVELOPING....