Covid-19: ICU Occupancy Exceeds 70% in Ten Brazilian Capitals

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Ten Brazilian capital cities present intensive care units (ICU) occupancy rates of over 70%, according to the Fiocruz Covid-19 Observatory report released on Friday, November 28th. The sudden increase in new cases and deaths over the past two weeks, after a long period of reduction in numbers, is the main reason for the high bed occupancy.

The situation is particularly critical in Macapá AP (with a 92.2% occupancy rate), Vitória ES (91.5%), Curitiba PR (90%), Porto Alegre RS (88.7%), Rio de Janeiro RJ (87%), Manaus AM (86%) and Florianópolis SC(83%).

In addition to these capitals, Fortaleza CE (78.7%), Belém PA (78.3%) and Campo Grande MS (76.1%) also show worrying rates. In São Paulo, occupancy stands at 58%. According to the researchers in charge of the report, the flexibility of the isolation measures and the increased crowding situations are the cause of this new cycle of the disease.

The highest daily increase rates in the number of cases were seen in Paraná (8%), São Paulo (7.8%), Amapá (6.5%), Rio de Janeiro (6.3%) and Santa Catarina (5.5%). These figures point to a resurgence of the epidemic.

The highest daily average growth in the number of deaths from the disease are found in Rio de Janeiro (10.1%), Roraima (7.9%), São Paulo (7.7%), Goiás (7.5%), Minas Gerais (6.6%) and Rio Grande do Sul (5.2%). “The rising trend in the number of cases and deaths is very clear across Brazil,” said researcher Christovam Barcellos, of Fiocruz’s Institute of Communication and Scientific and Technological Information on Health (ICICT).

“It is often a sequence. We see an increase in the number of cases, then hospitalizations and, finally, deaths. But we don’t necessarily need to get to that. There is much that can be done in between, such as reestablishing isolation policies and strengthening the health system.”

Source: O Estado de S. Paulo