100 a MONTH

COVID-19 Is Killing Pregnant Women in Brazil

A variant and lack of prenatal care have driven up the numbers.

COVID-19 is taking a terrible toll on pregnant women in Brazil, killing at least 100 a month, The Wall Street Journal reports. That’s twice as many as were dying from the virus last year, and the increase is blamed on a new variant and disruptions in prenatal care because of the pandemic—which has killed 450,000 Brazilians. And it’s not just the mothers who are affected; babies are being delivered prematurely and dying at birth or in their first months. “What’s happening in Brazil is so concerning,” Harvard Medical School obstetrician Neel Shah told the newspaper. “I can only imagine the degree of fear when the government comes out and says there is a new strain and it seems to be impacting pregnant people differently.”