RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The new wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has hit Brazil hard. The fast advance of the disease is attributed to the emergence of new variants and the drop in social isolation rates.
Worrying numbers and emergency policies have been released in recent days, proving the need to step up the fight against the novel coronavirus. The data range from the record number of Covid-19 deaths recorded on Tuesday, March 2nd, to a red phase decreed for the whole state of São Paulo, announced on Wednesday, March 3rd.
Brazilian media listed seven facts that prove that Brazil is currently experiencing the most acute phase of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic.
1. Record number of Covid-19 deaths
According to data from health secretariats compiled by a media outlet consortium, Brazil recorded 1.726 Covid-19 deaths on Tuesday, March 2nd.
The figure is a record since the start of the novel coronavirus pandemic, now totaling 257.562 deaths. The rolling average of deaths over the past 7 days reached 1.274 per day. The average is 23% higher than recorded 14 days ago. Fifteen states are experiencing a surge in deaths.
A total of 10.647,845 Covid-19 cases have been confirmed since the start of the pandemic. The rolling average over the past 7 days stood at 55.318 new daily diagnoses. This is a 22% increase over the daily cases recorded two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, the data collected by the Ministry of Health, also based on the health secretariats, show 1.641 Covid-19 deaths recorded on Tuesday. The total number of infections stands at 10.587,001, with 59.925 new cases recorded on Tuesday alone, the Ministry said.
An analysis involving 500 samples collected by the RT-PCR test to check coronavirus variants shows that the P.1 strain, detected in Amazonas, has at least twice the viral load found in other strains. This analysis was conducted by researchers at Fiocruz (Oswaldo Cruz Foundation) in the Amazon, based on tests performed between December 2020 and the end of January 2021.
Natalia Pasternak, pHd in Microbiology and CEO of Questão de Ciência Institute (IQC), says that the emergence of the P.1 is the result of incompetence in containing the novel coronavirus pandemic in Brazil. “Mutations are normal and expected when a virus multiplies. The more the virus replicates in the population, the more likely adaptations to its host will emerge. These adaptations are advantages which make the virus more transmissible, as is the case with the Brazilian variant,” Pasternak explained.
“We have grossly failed to establish any kind of coordination of pandemic containment, centralized by the federal government. We failed to establish prevention measures, we failed to campaign for mask wearing, staying home, or safe vaccination. From the beginning, there was denial of the severity of the pandemic. The variant emerged because the situation was not good. Now we have to be even more careful and reinforce measures that were not being imposed before,” adds the researcher.
On Saturday, the social isolation rate measured by Inloco, based on cell phone data, reached 31.1%. This is the lowest level since March 13th, 2020, the day before the first restrictions on activity were implemented in Brazil.
2. Covid-19 Transmission Rate up: 1.13
The Covid-19 transmission rate (Rt) in Brazil reached 1.13 on Tuesday, according to Imperial College London. In the preceding week, the rate stood at 1.02. Last week, it stood at 1.05.
The transmission rate assesses the evolution of the novel coronavirus pandemic in countries. A rate higher than 1 means that each person transmits the disease to more than one other person, suggesting accelerated contagion. Currently, 100 Brazilians are transmitting Covid-19 to 113 people. Brazil has been recording a transmission rate higher than 1 since December 2020.
The British university projects that Brazil should register up to 9,500 deaths from the virus this week. The Rt is expected to range between 1.10 and 1.15.
3. Bed occupancy over 90% in ten states
Eighteen states and the Federal District record an ICU bed occupancy for Covid-19 over 80%. Of these, 10 register an occupancy above 90%.
The data were released by the Oswaldo Cruz/Fiocruz Foundation on Tuesday, March 2nd. In the Fiocruz Covid-19 Observatory Bulletin, the institution classifies the situation as the tip of an iceberg of an intense transmission level in the country.
Given this scenario, the researchers said more stringent non-pharmacological measures are required, including the maintenance of all preventive measures, such as physical distancing, mask wearing, and hand hygiene, until the pandemic is officially over.
4. Government begins to fund ICU beds again
With overcrowded hospitals in several Brazilian regions, the Ministry of Health has authorized the financing of 3.201 ICU beds exclusively for Covid-19 patients. The decree, published in a special edition of the Federal Gazette (DOU), lists some 150 municipalities spread over 22 states.
Until December, the Ministry of Health funded about 60% of ICU beds in the whole country, but this number dropped to about 15% this year, because of the end of the state of public calamity, which had authorized the transfer of funds to states beyond the regular budget. The resurgence of infections prompted the decision to resume ICU bed funding.
The amount to be disbursed by the federal government to pay for hospitalization totals R$153.64 million, should all municipalities submit a request to the Ministry.
The decree also provides retroactive transfers to the maintenance of ICU beds for January and February, as a means of reimbursing states that were forced to use their own resources to open new ICU beds over these two months.
5. Governors call for a national curfew
On Monday, March 1st, the National Council of Health Secretaries (CONASS) released an open letter to the nation calling for more stringent measures to restrict non-essential activities.
According to Agência Brasil, CONASS urged for total restriction of circulation in regions where bed occupancy is higher than 85% and where there is a rising trend in the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths.
The council also advocated the suspension of in-person classes; the ban on in-person events such as concerts, conferences, religious, sports, and similar activities across the country; the closing of bars and beaches; and a national curfew from Monday to Friday, from 8 PM to 6 AM, and throughout the weekends.
The council asks for the “legal recognition of the state of health emergency” and the availability of extraordinary resources for the Unified Health System (SUS), in addition to the implementation of a national communication plan, to reinforce the relevance of prevention measures.
All measures should be complemented by the adoption of remote work and increased Covid-19 testing, writes CONASS.
“We understand that the set of measures proposed can only be executed by governors and mayors if a ‘National Pact for Life’ is established in Brazil that joins all the powers – civil society, representatives of industry and trade, major religious and academic institutions in the country – through explicit authorization and legislative determination by the National Congress,” the letter concludes.
6. 649 mayors are interested in a consortium to buy vaccines
Mayors are forming a consortium for the purchase of vaccines against Covid-19. The municipal officials are considering 3 options for financing the purchase of immunizers: federal government resources; financing from international organizations; and donations from private Brazilian investors.
The movement is led by the National Front of Mayors (FNP). The municipalities consortium for the purchase of Covid-19 vaccines has already received indications of interest from 649 municipalities, according to the list released on Wednesday, March 3rd, by the FNP. Municipal administrations may sign the consortium’s term of intent by Friday, March 5th. The association is expected to be officially established by March 22nd.
Should the National Immunization Plan fail, municipalities may purchase the doses and be reimbursed by the federal government. “The consortium is not intended to purchase immediately, but rather to have legal security in case the National Immunization Plan is unable to supply the whole population. In this event, mayors would have an alternative,” explained Jonas Donizette, FNP chairman, during the meeting to launch the initiative.
The mayors’ decision is endorsed by the Senate. Provisional Measure (MP) 1.026/21, the Vaccine MP, was passed on Wednesday, March 2nd. According to the text, states and municipalities will be allowed to buy vaccines and their required supplies and hire the necessary services, including vaccines not yet registered with ANVISA the National Health Regulatory Agency, not subject to tender.
Edson Aparecido, São Paulo Municipal Health Secretary, said that the São Paulo City Hall is negotiating the purchase of between 5 and 6 million Covid-19 vaccines from Johnson&Johnson group. The municipality is also considering the purchase of Pfizer/BioNtech laboratories vaccines.
São Paulo governor João Doria (PSDB) said in a meeting with governors on Tuesday that there would be 20 million extra doses of the Pfizer vaccine, 20 million doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine and 20 million doses of the CoronaVac, an immunizer produced by the Butantan Institute in partnership with the Chinese Sinovac laboratory.
Altogether, there would be 60 million additional doses of Covid-19 vaccines. The goal is to immunize the entire population of the state by the end of the year.
The Brazilian health regulatory agency ANVISA has not yet approved the use of the Johnson&Johnson or Sputnik V vaccines, but has authorized the final registration of Pfizer/BioNTech’s immunizer.
7. São Paulo decrees Red Phase in the whole state
The whole state of São Paulo will enter the Red Phase as of next Saturday, March 6th. The decision was prompted by the surge in cases, hospitalizations and deaths from Covid-19 and announced at a press conference held on Wednesday, March 3rd, at the Bandeirantes Palace, seat of the São Paulo state government. The Red Phase in the state should run for 14 days, between March 6th and 19th.
Regions in the Red Phase must close all trade and only allow essential services to operate, such as supply and logistics, media, construction, education, pharmacies and hospitals, markets and bakeries, gas stations, public transports, and public safety. Restaurants can operate only using delivery.
This is the most restrictive phase in the São Paulo Plan, a pandemic control program imposed by the state government, which conditions economic reopening to the rates of new Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in the state’s regions.
The São Paulo Plan breaks the state down into regions and each is classified under a phase. There are five, ranging from the maximum restriction level of non-essential activities (Red) to stages identified as control (Orange), flexibilization (Yellow), partial opening (Green) and controlled normal (Blue).
Before this reclassification, the regions of Araraquara, Bauru, Barretos, Presidente Prudente, Ribeirão Preto, and Marília were in the Red Phase. Campinas also dawned on Wednesday in the Red Phase, through a city hall decree.
Source: InfoMoney