“Collapse”: Brazil suffers worst health crisis with saturated hospitals and record of daily infections and deaths from coronavirus

The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), the largest scientific research center in Latin America, pointed out that Brazil is experiencing the “the biggest health and hospital collapse in its history“And asked to harden”urgently“The measures to stop the contagion.

In the public health system of 25 of the 27 states, intensive care unit (ICU) occupancy rates are equal to or greater than 80%, Y in 15 regions, it has already exceeded 90% of its capacity, A situation “absolutely critical», Fiocruz said.

These figures, added to the large number of infections and deaths per day, have led even the government itself to admit that the country is in a “inflection point“. The South American giant recorded 90,303 COVID-19 infections this Wednesday, a new daily record, which already adds 116,933,838 cases and is confirmed as the current global epicenter of the pandemic.

Deaths were also high in the past 24 hours, with 2,648 deaths from the virus, the second-highest figure after Tuesday’s record 2,841 deaths, bringing Brazil already affects 285,000 victims, according to the latest bulletin published by the Ministry of Health.

“A set of indicators, including moving averages of cases and deaths and occupancy rates of intensive care units, indicate a extremely critical situation or even collapsing across the country. It is urgently essential to expand and intensify a set of non-pharmacological measures that suppress or block transmission, ”the report said.

Among the measures requested by researchers analyzing the COVID-19 situation in the South American giant, are the further restrict non-essential activities, widen physical and social distance, encourage the use of masks and speed up vaccination in the countrySince the first dose of the vaccine has only been applied to about 5% of the total population.

According to the Observatory, In 19 capitals, which are the ones with the highest concentration of inhabitants, the ICUs have already exceeded 90% of their capacity Yes deaths due to lack of space in these units have accelerated in various parts of the country such as São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul, which this week recorded deaths in a single day.

Brazil, with its 210 million inhabitants, has just under 3% of the world’s population, but, as one of the global epicenters of the COVID-19 pandemic, accumulates 10.3% of deaths from coronavirus worldwide and 9.5% of the total infected.

The South American giant is the current global epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic and the second country in the world with the highest number of deaths and infections, surpassed only by the United States.

Case and death register

The more than 90,000 infections confirmed on Wednesday surpassed the 87,840 cases reported on January 7 and the 85,660 cases recorded on March 12, which were so far the highest in a day.

So things, the average of deaths over the past week reached 2,017 daily deaths on Wednesday and the number of infections reached 70,219 cases in a single day, numbers never seen before since the start of the pandemic.

According to the balance of the health portfolio, the death rate from COVID-19 remained at 2.4% of the population, the death rate rose to 135.5 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants and the incidence rate was to 5564.6 infected in the same proportion of the population.

The increase in the number of deaths was expected in Brazil, where the lack of places in intensive care units (ICU) is causing the country to collapse.

The critical situation has accelerated deaths from the coronavirus, particularly in the southern region states, where so far, in March, there has been a record number of deaths (Paraná with 2,245 dead, Santa Catarina with 1,600 dead and Rio Grande do Sul with 3,214 deaths).

The situation is alarming in Porto Alegre, capital of Rio Grande do Sul and which concentrates the largest number of inhabitants of the region, since the demand for ICUs in hospitals exceeded capacity by 114% on Wednesday.

“A turning point”

Brazilian Minister of Health, General of the Army Eduardo Pazuello, said on Wednesday that the country is in a “inflection point“In the process of controlling the pandemic.

Pazuello, who in the coming days will be replaced by cardiologist Marcelo Queiroga, said that with vaccine production in the country already stabilized, Brazil will be able to speed up its vaccination campaign in the coming days and control the pandemic in the second half of the year. of this year.

“This is a good time for our ability to fight the pandemic. It’s a turning pointPazuello said in statements he made during the visit he made with Queiroga to the headquarters of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation to receive the first batch of vaccines produced in the country by the largest health research center from Latin America. “

“Tuesday we had a death toll which is very painful, but it is something that accompanies what is happening in the world and, in addition, we have new variations (of the coronavirus) in circulation, which causes a greater number of deaths, ”he added .

The military said Brazil will bring the pandemic under control with the vaccination of the entire population and the adoption of new habits, such as wearing a mask, washing hands and maintaining social distancing, criticized measures by the president Jair Bolsonaro.

The minister said that the 500,000 doses of vaccines delivered this Wednesday by Fiocruz constitute a small batch but of great symbolism because it is the demonstration that Brazil has not only started to produce antidotes, but has already stabilized this production.

Fiocruz, linked to the Ministry of Health, produces in its factories in Rio de Janeiro the vaccine against COVID-19 developed by the AstraZeneca laboratory and by the University of Oxford.

For its part, Butantan Institute, linked to the government of the state of São Paulo, has been producing the vaccine developed by the Chinese laboratory Sinovac for several weeks in the country.

“We have already contracted 562 million doses of vaccine for this year and this week we are distributing 6.5 million doses across the country,” he said.

“The forecast is that we will vaccinate half of the Brazilian population until June or July of this year and the other half until the end of the year. We will control the pandemic in the second half of the year“, he claimed.

He also said that the government has invested in building a new vaccine factory in Rio de Janeiro that will quadruple the vaccine production capacity in the country and that it has also completed the technological process to start production shortly. the active ingredient in the vaccine. From AstraZeneca in the country, you will therefore no longer be dependent on imports.

Regarding the change of head of the ministry, after Bolsonaro’s decision to announce Queiroga as Pazuello’s replacement, he said that it is a process to give continuity to what the government has done.

KEEP READING: