more than 3,000 deaths and nearly 100,000 cases of coronavirus in a single day

Brazil registered this Wednesday 100,303 covid infections, a new daily record, with which the country already adds 11,693,3,838 cases and is confirmed as the current global epicenter of the pandemic.

In addition, it exceeded 3,000 daily deaths from the coronavirus for the first time while affecting 100,000 people infected in the most aggressive phase of the pandemic. In the last 24 hours, 3,149 registered deaths the National Council of State Government Secretaries of Health reported shortly after 6 p.m. This has brought the death toll to 284,775 since the start of the pandemic in February 2020.

In this context, the Brazilian Minister of Health designated, Marcelo Queiroga, recommended social distance to contain the coronavirus pandemic which is wreaking havoc in the country and indicated possible “adjustments” in the policies of President Jair Bolsonaro, who has so far taken the opposite direction.

“We will be able to reduce deaths (…) with social distancing policies that reduce the circulation of the virus and improve the capacity of our hospital services,” said Queiroga, appointed on Monday by Bolsonaro as his fourth health minister since start. of the health crisis.

Queiroga, a 55-year-old cardiologist, summoned to a press conference with the still outgoing Eduardo Pazuello, to a “union of all Brazilians” to control the pandemic, which has already claimed more than 282,000 lives and is on the rise in the country, causing global alarm.

“There is no point in recommending the use of masks if people are not able to adhere to this kind of simple measure (…). The government recommends, for example, to reduce unnecessary crowds and people keep having parties on weekends, contributing to the circulation of the virus, ”he added.

These considerations may seem like common sense on a planet facing a huge health crisis for over a year, but they are a novelty in the Bolsonaro government. The far-right president has maintained a skeptical stance about the severity of the disease, encouraged crowds, scorned the use of masks and questioned the effectiveness of vaccines.

Concern has increased this year with the identification in several countries of a much more contagious variant of the virus, called P1, emerged in Brazil.

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) director Carissa Etienne said on Wednesday that “the situation in Brazil is a warning that keeping this virus under control requires continued attention from public health authorities and leaders to protect people and health systems from its devastating impact. “

According to a report by the Fiocruz Foundation released on Tuesday, the pandemic has caused “the biggest health and hospital collapse in Brazilian history”. Of Brazil’s 27 states, 24 have an occupancy of 80 percent or more of beds in intensive care units, the report says.

Queiroga and Pazuello chaired the press conference at Fiocruz headquarters, after a delivery ceremony for 500,000 doses of the Swedish-British vaccine AstraZeneca, produced in cooperation with the institution in Rio de Janeiro.

Vaccination began in Brazil in January and suffered several delays due to logistical issues. So far, only 4.95% of the 212 million Brazilians They were vaccinated with one of the two immunizers available in the country, CoronaVac, from the Chinese laboratory Sinovac, and that of AstraZeneca.

Source: AFP and EFE

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