Escalation of Covid-19 Crisis Leaves Over 1,000 Patients Waiting for Beds in Rio

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Thursday, Brazil recorded the third consecutive day with over 400 reported Covid-19 deaths: there were 435 confirmed deaths in 24 hours, totaling 5,901 fatalities, according to the Ministry of Health – the country currently accounts for 85,380 confirmed cases and 35,935 people cured.

On the same day, President Jair Bolsonaro said the Federal Government “did everything” to contain the novel coronavirus crisis in the country and accused mayors and governors of making political use of the pandemic.

Commenting on the escalating deaths caused by the virus, about which he asked “so what?” earlier in the week, the President insisted that it is up to local governments to manage the resources released and to adopt measures.

“Governors and mayors who have taken rather strict measures have not flattened the curve,” he said, with no evidence, referring to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, which are starting to face an escalation of cases and are close to maximum occupation of their health facilities.

Experts said the social isolation measures contributed to the number of victims not being higher and even the new Minister of Health, Nelson Teich, changed his speech.

“No one is thinking about relaxing isolation. Right now, nobody is thinking about relaxing anything,” the Minister said at a press conference. “We have a guideline ready, a starting point, but you can’t start relaxing social isolation when you have a curve in ascendancy,” he added.

“Today we stand at 435 [confirmed in the last 24 hours], a number of 1,000, if we see significant growth in the pandemic, could happen. That doesn’t mean it will happen,” he said.

According to a study by the Imperial College of London, Brazil could record 9,700 deaths from Covid-19 by next Sunday and is currently experiencing the worst situation in the world with the number of cases “likely to grow” and a “very large” number of deaths. The institution’s most optimistic projection was 5,600 deaths by the end of this week, a number already exceeded in Brazil.

São Paulo calls for help and there are over 1,000 patients in Rio

In Rio de Janeiro, the second-most affected by the pandemic, with 854 deaths and 9,453 cases of Covid-19, authorities’ projections are alarming.

More than a thousand patients -361 of them in a critical condition – with symptoms compatible with the disease were waiting on Thursday for a place in an ICU or a ward. Edmar Santos, the state Health Secretary, said in an interview with the G1 website that he is working with the “base” of 140,000 infected people, which projects a need for 21,000 ward and 7,000 ICU beds within the next two weeks.

The state currently has just under 4,000 places available on the public hospital network. “Obviously, this is mathematically impossible,” he lamented.

In the State of São Paulo, the most affected by coronavirus – with 28,698 confirmed cases and 2,375 deaths – the occupation rate of ICU beds in the capital and metropolitan region to care for patients with Covid-19 has reached 89 percent.

As a result, the Health Secretary, José Henrique Germann, plans to use hospitals in the interior of the state to care for patients from the Greater São Paulo region.

With no evidence provided, Bolsonaro accused the government of João Doria of inflating the number of deaths to make political use of the crisis. “It’s the governor politicizing,” he scorned.

Members of the Coronavirus Contingency Committee in São Paulo met with the Minister of Health to order four million rapid tests, 100 ventilators for the Clínicas Hospital in the next few days, and a transfer of R$292 million (US$58 million) to enable 2049 ICU beds, in addition to masks and personal protective equipment (PPE).

Although the State Government is preparing a plan to restart some activities as of May 10th, the São Paulo capital will not relax its isolation measures, according to the Municipal Health Secretary, Edson Aparecido.

He argued that the city is not yet prepared to implement this measure and said that Mayor Bruno Covas’s team is considering tightening quarantine in some parts of the city, with the chance of blocking avenues.

“The decision has been made. We can’t relax social isolation measures from May 10th. In the capital it’s absolutely impossible,” he said in an interview with TV Globo on Thursday morning.

The Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science (SBPC) released a letter on Thursday demanding more decisive actions from the Bolsonaro government and the Ministry of Health to draw up an emergency plan against the pandemic.

The group, which includes over 40 scientific organizations, says that “if nothing is done in the coming days, the Ministry’s statements will be limited to reporting the number of deaths”.

“Is there a plan for the integrated use of hospital beds? Several countries have integrated public and private hospital networks through rulers’ decisions, with great results in the distribution and care of the most critical patients,” the organization argues.

Source: El País