San Pablo has suspended religious celebrations and football due to possible collapse of health care system from coronavirus

St.Paul, the most populous and richest state in Brazil, further tightened mobility restrictions and determined this Thursday the suspension of religious celebrations and sporting events, including football, before a possible collapse of its health system due to the worsening of the pandemic.

The decision, which will be in effect from March 15 to 30, was announced at a press conference by the Governor of São Paulo, Joao doria, after the state recorded this week a record of 517 deaths in 24 hours in what he described as “most critical moment”From the pandemic.

“We have reached the most critical moment of the pandemic, our hospitals are reaching the maximum occupancy limit (…) Brazil is collapsing and if we don’t stop the virus, the same will happen in São PauloDoria warned.

Brazil is collapsing and if we don’t stop the virus, the same will happen in São Paulo

The measure also includes a recommendation that schools reduce face-to-face activities “to the minimum necessary” and advance to March the holidays planned for April and October.

The state of San Pablo, with 46 million inhabitants, was in the so-called red phase, in which only essential services are allowed to operate, including, so far, religious temples and schools.

However, the government has decreed a “emergency phase“Because São Paulo’s health system, one of the most advanced in Brazil, is on the brink of collapse, amid exponential increase in cases, deaths and hospitalizations as a result of COVID-19 .

This Thursday, San Pablo counted a total of 20,976 people admitted with complications from the disease, including 9,184 in intensive care, a record already renewed for the twentieth consecutive day.

“In intensive care, we have a number that is 47% higher than that recorded at the peak of the first wave pandemic, ”said State Health Secretary Jean Gorinchteyn.

São Paulo is one of the epicenters of the pandemic in Brazil, with 63,010 deaths and more than 2.16 million infected with the coronavirus.

In many intensive care units, 50% of patients are under 50

In the past 7 days, the death toll has increased 12.3% from the previous week, while the number of people infected has increased by 12% during the same period.

One of the major concerns of the authorities is the advance of new variants of the coronavirus, which aim to be more transmissible and deadly than the original.

“Today, in many intensive care units, 50% of patients are under 50, meaning more young people are compromised, many of whom are in serious conditionGorinchteyn pointed out.

The “emergency phase” also increases restrictions in 14 economic activities and also establishes the obligation to telework in all non-essential administrative sectors., whether in the public or private service, in addition to maintaining the curfew between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. the next morning.

COVID-19 contingency center executive coordinator Joao Gabbardo warned that if the state did not implement these measures and increase isolation, “many people would die.”

“People with the best health plan (are going to die). There will be no beds in private hospitals, people with a lot of money in their accounts will die, as well as freelancers and middle class people. There will not be a bed for everyone, ”he stressed.

Brazil, with some 210 million inhabitants, is going through the deadliest phase since the start of the pandemic and is recording deaths on a daily basis.

On Wednesday, the country exceeded 2,000 daily deaths for the first time and reached 270,656 deaths, including 11.2 million people infected.

(With information from EFE)

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