RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga said Monday that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus generates a scenario of uncertainty for the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil but said he does not expect the new strain to cause an explosion of hospitalizations for the disease in the country, despite the increase in cases.
“We have a pandemic scenario of a certain uncertainty in the face of the Omicron variant, with the increase of cases, but we are hopeful that there will not be an explosion of hospital admissions and also a proportional increase in deaths, because our population is heavily vaccinated,” the minister told reporters in Brasilia.
Queiroga also said that the portfolio has provisions and regulatory stocks to provide inputs such as oxygen and intubation kits to states and municipalities, if necessary. The federal government will send Covid-19 rapid tests to cities to extend the detection of new cases.
The minister also said that the folder should define this Monday as the isolation period for health professionals infected by Covid-19.