[coffeebean]

Originally Posted by John41

It’s the illegal immigrants bringing NEW variants from South America that are the problem. They are released infected and bussed to unannounced areas of the country and seed the new variants.
——————-
In early 2021, the Gamma variant began to spread beyond Brazil, especially in border cities in Peru, Chile, and Uruguay. By February, 80 percent of cases in the Uruguayan border city of Rivera, were identified as the Gamma variant. Nationally, that number was just 15 percent of sequenced cases at the time. By June, nine out of 10 sequenced cases in Uruguay were of the Gamma variant.

Experts vary on why the Gamma variant has been so prolific. Some believe that it has a contagion rate twice that of the original strain of the disease. Others posit that it is Gamma's high reinfection rate that's driven cases upward. One study found that one in six of those infected with the coronavirus in Manaus was reinfected by Gamma. As a result, many countries both inside and outside of Latin America banned travel from Brazil and other affected countries.

All the more reason every American who can should get themselves vaccinated.