Not introducing tougher incarceration measures, calls for self-care and not a fourth health minister appointed by Jair Bolsonaro, the president most reluctant to take on the risks of Covid-19 in South America, they have not stopped a new wave of infections in Brazil which is cruel and constantly strikes hospitals, where they are already collapsing due to the daily influx of new cases of coronavirus.
Media like CNN have already reported that until Sunday, in 21 states and the federal district, the occupancy rate in intensive care units (ICU) was more than 80 percent, of the same number 14 are on the verge of collapse when they already have occupancy exceeding 90 percent.
The hospital situation is not easy, especially when the supporters of Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, have held a series of protests against local authorities in recent days. Among those cases are Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia and Belo Horizonte, where restrictive measures have been imposed by regional governments to stop the Covid-19 pandemic.
It is precisely in Sao Paulo where the rapid increase in hospital admissions for Covid-19 forced the government of that state to emerge from the so-called “red phase” of your plan of incarceration to an “emergency phase”, even more stringent, although without reaching the limits of quarantine applied in some European countries.
In this new, more restrictive phase, Sao Paulo suspended religious and sporting collective activities, closed building materials stores and banned access to the beaches, which had recorded a large influx of people in recent weeks.
Similarly, Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria announced this Monday a new field hospital in the capital that gets 180 new beds, of which 50 in intensive care.
Doria again sued far-right President Bolsonaro, whom he called a “denier” and a “death myth” for his questionable management of the pandemic.
“Brazil became a worldwide disgrace (…) The country became a threat to the health of the world and the one who pays the bill is us, the Brazilians, ”he repeated.
In absolute numbers, Sao Paulo, Brazil’s economic engine and most populous region, with 46 million inhabitants, is the state of the country most affected by Covid-19, accounting for 2.2 million infections and 64,123 deaths. of the disease.
Sao Paulo has recently surpassed its daily death toll and is dangerously close to the collapse of its public hospitals, where nearly 90 percent of intensive care beds are occupied.
This worsening pandemic coincides with the circulation of new, more transmissible variants, including one discovered for the first time in Brazil, referred to by specialists as P.1.
The fourth health minister in less than a year
Bolsonaro appointed cardiologist Marcelo Queiroga yesterday as Minister of Health, the fourth in less than a year, at a time when the health system is on the verge of collapse as a result of the coronavirus pandemic that has already left 11.5 million cases and nearly 278 thousand deaths. COVID-19.
“It was now decided this afternoon to appoint the Doctor Marcelo Queiroga to the Ministry of Health,” Bolsonaro told his supporters in front of the Alvorada Palace, his residence in Brasilia.
The very same day, the president criticized the policies restricting the movement and hinted to his followers that he is studying measures to resolve the situation.
“Rest assured that anything that can be done legally, I will. We will briefly review the consequences of what is happening, rest assured,” Bolsonaro told the group, who took part in a demonstration in favor of the president and against the measures. for the closure of services in Brasilia.
This speech by the Brazilian president was delivered while medical centers are reporting to CNN a gift of “132 percent occupancy”, as is the case Hospital das Clinicas de Porto Alegre, in the south of the nation.
The situation in the north is not very different either, with medical services already reaching 97 percent of their care capacity. In addition, there have also been reports of oxygen deprivation in patients who require assisted ventilation due to the coronavirus.
In one of his last speeches as Minister of Health, Eduardo Pazuello, managed to report yesterday the purchase of 100 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech, although these will be delivered through September, which are added to a slow vaccination plan against Covid-19, the largest country in population and territory in all of South America.
OMZI