Hospitals in Brazil were limited as the number of deaths from COVID-19 increased

BRASILIA / PORTO ALEGRE (Reuters) – Hospitals in Brazil’s major cities are reaching capacity, health officials warned, as the country recorded the world’s highest number of deaths from COVID-19 last week. causing more severe restrictions Thursday in its most populous state.

According to the Fiocruz Biomedical Center, intensive care units for the treatment of patients with COVID-19 have reached critical occupancy levels of more than 90% in 15 of the state’s 27 capitals.

In Porto Alegre, southern Brazil, the main referral hospital for COVID-19 stopped admitting new cases because all ICU beds were taken. A Reuters photographer saw patients with respirators crowding the emergency rooms.

“It simply came to our notice then. We have reached capacity and people need to be aware of how bad the situation is, ”said Claudio Oliveira, director of the Conceiçao Hospital. It was the first time the hospital has removed patients since the 2009 H1N1 epidemic.

Oliveira told reporters that the hospital closed its doors to prevent the collapse of care for patients with COVID.

The number of deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours exceeded 2,000 for the second time, the Ministry of Health reported on Thursday, with 2,233 deaths and new infections increasing by 75,412.

With more than 272,000 deaths, the number of deaths from Brazil’s pandemic over the past year only tracks the United States. But over the past week, Brazil has averaged more than 1,600 deaths a day, up from 1,400 in the United States, where the outbreak has slowed.

While President Jair Bolsonaro runs against the closures and urges Brazilians to leave their homes, governors and mayors have struggled to enforce the restrictions, often advocating in vain with a population halted by the rising epidemic.

The far-right president attacked governors again Thursday for the closures, including the decision by the state of Sao Paulo to ban football matches. He said they were increasing poverty with a drug worse than the virus.

“How long can we endure this irresponsibility of blocking? You close it all and destroy millions of jobs. Blocking is not a cure,” Bolsonaro said in a video addressed to a business group with Economy Minister Paulo Guedes on his side.

Brazil’s two most populous cities, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, advanced Thursday to tighten measures as their hospitals ran into problems with a second wave of the virus, driven by a more contagious variant that emerged in the Amazon region.

As Europe and the United States increase vaccinations and reduce their burdens, Brazil’s federal government is slowly starting, with only 2% of the 210 million Brazilians fully inoculated so far.

In the nation’s capital, Brasilia, which has a night curfew, the ICU wards of public hospitals are 97% full and the private ones 99% full, forcing the city to re-install hospitals. campaign, as it did during last year’s peak cases.

On Thursday, Sao Paulo Governor João Doria announced a “new stage” of restrictions to implement social distancing, arguing that it is now the only weapon against the spread of the virus.

They include a curfew from 8pm to 5am, the suspension of religious services and sporting events, including football matches, and a ban on people from using beaches and parks.

“This is a tough and unpopular decision. No governor wants to stop the economic activities of his state “, said Doria in a press conference.

Currently, the state of Sao Paulo, where about 44 million people live, only allows essential stores such as supermarkets and pharmacies to receive shoppers.

The Sao Paulo health secretary said hospitals in more than half of the state’s municipalities are full and half of the patients are under 50 years old.

Last year, the most serious cases were concentrated among elderly Brazilians.