The state of Sao Paulo recorded a total of 1,021 deaths in 24 hours, the state secretary of health reported on Tuesday. The figure is the highest recorded since the beginning of the pandemic.
The deadliest day for the state in terms of a pandemic was seven days ago, on March 16, when 679 people died in 24 hours. In total, 68,623 people in São Paulo have lost their lives to Covid-19.
The health care system is also on the verge of collapse, with 91.9% of the state’s intensive care beds occupied. On Monday, in Sao Paulo, there were 29,039 Covid-19 patients hospitalized, 12,168 in intensive care beds. As of March 1, the number of hospitalized patients was 15,977, almost half the current number.
On Monday, the Sao Paulo City Council of Municipal Secretaries of Health warned that 54 cities only have enough oxygen for the rest of the week.
On the same day, at a press conference, Governor João Doria announced a partnership with a private beverage company to build an oxygen plant in Ribeirao Preto, one of the largest cities in the state of Sao Paulo.
In an interview with CNN’s Julia Chatterley on Monday, Sao Paulo state governor Joao Doria called Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro a “psychopathic leader” and criticized the president’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. .
“We’re in one of those tragic moments in history where millions pay a high price for having an unprepared psychopathic leader at the head of a nation,” he told CNN’s First Move.
Doria said much of the virus’s deaths in Brazil could have been prevented if Bolsonaro had “acted with the responsibility that the position gives him.” He added that Bolsonaro made “incredible mistakes, the most important thing was to have a political dispute with the governors trying to protect the population.”
Some more background: Bolsonaro has repeatedly opposed blockades and restrictive measures and has criticized governors and mayors for enforcing them. He has also been seen greeting crowds of his followers during the pandemic without wearing a mask and has advocated drugs such as hydroxychloroquine to treat the virus, a drug that has no proven effectiveness in fighting Covid-19.
According to health ministry data, Brazil now has more than 12 million cases of coronavirus in the country.
CNN’s Julia Chatterley and Hira Humayun contributed to the publication of this article.