new daily record with 2,841 dead and alert for a collapse in São Paulo

The South American country now adds 282,127 deaths from covid-19, a number surpassed only by the United States. And the average for the past seven days is 1,965 deaths per day, nearly triple the 703 at the start of the year, according to data from the Department of Health.

The ministry also reported 83,926 infections in the past 24 hours, the second highest figure since the pandemic began in February 2020, for a cumulative 11,603,535.

The new death record is more than 500 more than the previous one, 2,286, recorded on March 10.

The fierce rebound of the pandemic in Brazil could soon kill some 3,000 per day and bring the balance to 500,000 or 600,000 before the generalization of vaccines, according to experts.

Cardiologist Marcelo Queiroga, appointed Monday by Bolsonaro to take over as Minister of Health (the fourth since the start of the pandemic), called on the “union” on Tuesday to face the coronavirus.

“It’s a very big program [la del ministerio], which is going to need the union of the nation, ”Queiroga told reporters after meeting in Brasilia the outgoing minister, General Eduardo Pazuello.

He also stressed the importance of speeding up vaccination and preventive measures such as wearing masks and washing hands with alcoholic gel.

“These are simple but important measures” to “prevent us from having to shut down a country’s economy,” he said.

Some advice that contrasts with the rhetoric of Bolsonaro, who has constantly despised the use of masks and questioned the effectiveness or safety of vaccines, not to mention his criticism of containment measures because of their economic impact.

Pazuello on Monday announced the purchase of 562.9 million vaccines, most of which should arrive in the second half of the year, to immunize the country of 212 million people.

So far, just over 10 million people have received the first dose and 3.6 million the second.

Queiroga, who has not yet taken the oath, will also have to deal with the serious hospital crisis.

Analysis of indicators such as moving averages of infections and deaths as well as adult intensive care unit (ICU) occupancy rates “indicate an extremely critical situation across the country,” a report said. of the prestigious Fiocruz institute. , published this Tuesday evening.

The document indicates that 24 of the 27 Brazilian states have an occupancy rate equal to or greater than 80% of ICU beds and that 19 capitals in the country have this rate greater than 90%, such as Rio Grande do Sul (100%) and Santa Catarina (99%).

“This is the biggest health and hospital collapse in Brazilian history,” according to Fiocruz researchers.

The institute urges the authorities to apply “greater rigor in measures restricting non-essential activities”, as well as more measures of “social distancing, the use of masks on a large scale and the acceleration of vaccination” .

Fiocruz recommends that even “lockdown (total closure) be a strategy to consider in the most critical situations”.

St.Paul

While political and social tensions persist in Brazil due to the high number of daily deaths due to the coronavirus pandemic and the collapse of health in several cities due, according to the opposition, to the erratic handling of the situation by the government of Jair Bolsonaro, San Pablo entered two weeks of severe restrictions last night, with a nighttime curfew.

São Paulo, Latin America’s largest economic center, entered two weeks of severe restrictions on the pandemic, with a nighttime curfew, as its figures set a new death record: 679 in the last 24 hours in the state.

The previous highest figure was last Friday of 521 deaths, according to the Brazilian state agency.

“It is obvious that the risk is imminent that in a week or ten days we will no longer have intensive care beds,” São Paulo Health Secretary Edson Aparecido said. and added that “patients are coming from other cities, we are opening intensive care beds every day, but it is not enough”.

At the same time, he said that the state “is going through a dramatic week, it is obvious that at some point there will be an exhaustion of the system, people must be aware of the isolation and support it”.

The crisis affects not only the unified health system (SUS, public) but also the private network. “The private hospitals have asked us for 30 rooms for the patients, and we have received them, obviously, so we will see how the issue of payment is resolved” by the private health companies, the official said. (ANSA).

The order that confines the inhabitants of São Paulo to their homes is part of the “emergency phase”, the strictest, decreed Thursday by Governor Joao Doria to face what he defined as “the moment on most critical “of the pandemic. 280,000 dead in the Latin American giant, a figure exceeded only by the United States.

The closure appears to have been carried out obediently, even though there were crowds on public transport, according to the AFP news agency.

“I think everything stays the same, the metro was business as usual,” said Elisa, 33, who left early for the design company in Pinheiros, in the west of the city, where she is doing works. of cleaning.

The government has ordered people like her, who do not perform essential tasks, to stay home to avoid infections as hospitals near collapse: in Brazil’s wealthiest state, where 46.2 million people live, 89% of intensive care beds are occupied.

Until the end of the month, parks and beaches will be closed, office workers should work remotely and authorities are urged to reduce classes to the essential minimum, among other measures.

“I have to come to work; if I don’t come, the bosses would just say ‘go away’; as things are difficult, I’m still here,” said Elisa, whose name has been changed to avoid possible reprisals. .

Without pay, she would be evicted for not being able to pay the rent on her house, where she lives with her teenage daughter, and if she doesn’t go to the business, she is fired, she said.

In the Pinheiros shopping area, most stores have been closed. Some restaurants had the doors ajar, waiting to start home deliveries, their only source of sales due to the ban on ordering to pick up the premises.

A small number of pedestrians circulated along the roads of Jardim Paulista. Activity in this residential and commercial area was at its lowest yesterday, unlike other areas where restrictions were not being respected.

Between Friday and Sunday, when a less strict phase was in effect, authorities found nearly 200 stores in violation of the restrictions.

São Paulo is the state with the most deaths (64,223), although in relative terms it is less affected than Rio de Janeiro, Amazonas or Brasilia.

Yesterday, Governor Doria left planning for the possibility of a strict quarantine in case there are no results in the “emergency phase”.

His former ally Bolsonaro opposes the closures due to their economic impact, while downplaying the pandemic and criticizing vaccines.