This is VOA News. Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd. Tens of thousands of demonstrators have poured onto the streets of Brazil's biggest cities to protest against President Jair Bolsonaro's handling of the COVID-19 crisis and to call for his impeachment. In Rio de Janeiro, people carried placards with the faces of loved ones who died from the disease. Protesters rallied in several other cities, including Salvador, Belo Horizonte, and the capital, Brasilia. Bolsonaro has repeatedly refused to use lockdowns and other tough measures to prevent the spread of the virus. He once mocked COVID-19 as a "little flu" and said his opposition to lockdowns is designed to protect Brazil's economy. According to Johns Hopkins University, more than 16.3 million Brazilians have been infected with COVID-19. More than 459,000 have died from the disease. The actual numbers are believed be much higher.
Vietnam's health minister said that authorities have detected a new coronavirus variant that is a combination of the Indian and British COVID-19 variants and spreads quickly by air. Reuters Emily Wither reports. After successfully containing the virus for most of last year, Vietnam is grappling with a spike in infections since late April. Quoted in local media, the minister says the authorities will announce the name and detailed characteristics of the newly discovered variant soon, saying lab cultures show it is much more transmissible than the previously known types. He said that could explain why so many new cases have appeared in different parts of the country within a short period of time. That's Reuters Emily Wither. Visit voanews.com for more. This is VOA News.