San Pablo’s health system collapsed by coronavirus: more than 700 people waiting for a bed in intensive care

The coronavirus emergency in Brazil shows no signs of slowing down and for the first time since the start of the pandemic, the average number of deaths from Covid-19 in the country has exceeded the threshold of 3,000 victims and is close to 4,000, while some cemeteries no longer have space for burials.

In the megalopolis of São Paulo, the most affected by the disease in deaths and infections, the number of burials increased by 60% in March compared to the same month of 2020. This is data provided by the municipal funeral home, which takes into account both public and private cemeteries, as well as crematoriums.

Not only that: one of the largest cemeteries in the city of 12 million people, Nova Cachoeirinha, has suspended all burials due to lack of space. This was denounced by the Union of Municipal Public Administration Workers (Sindsep), according to which “old graves more than 3 years old must be exhumed to create new ones”.

According to the National Council of Secretaries of Health (Conass), with the 3,769 new deaths recorded in the past 24 hours, the moving average of deaths over the past seven days has reached 3,117. Thursday was the third deadliest day since the start of the pandemic in the country, which has 325,284 deaths and 12,839,844 confirmed cases of Covid-19.

In the country of some 215 million inhabitants, the government of Jair Bolsonaro, often skeptical of measures to contain the disease, has meanwhile accelerated vaccinations. For the first time, the threshold of more than one million people vaccinated on the same day has been exceeded, bringing the total vaccinated to date to over 23 million (18 million with the first dose, 5 with the second). Figures that rekindle hope, even as the danger of new variants, warn experts, remains hidden.

A first timid sign of optimism comes from Rio de Janeiro where the mayor authorized the reopening of schools from next Monday and from April 9 also the resumption of table service in bars and restaurants.

But San Pablo saw the worst. More than 500 Covid patients have died in this state since the start of the pandemic while awaiting an intensive care place, including 11 in the past 24 hours. According to a count made by the informative site G1, the total number of Covid patients who have died for lack of beds in the intensive care rooms in the most affected state of Brazil has been 507 since the start of the health emergency.. Of these, 271 were registered in the capital and a further 236 in the rest of the state.

There are currently 709 Covid-19 patients waiting for intensive care beds in the country’s richest and most advanced state, this source revealed.

Brazil’s National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) said it had received requests from nine states in the country to import the Sputnik V vaccine from Russia. According to Anvisa, the request will be analyzed based on the requirements that must be met for an exceptional and temporary authorization for the import of drugs and vaccines against Covid-19. The agency also said a technical meeting on the issue with governors is scheduled for next week. “Anvisa remains committed to making vaccines available to the public in a timely manner and with the required safety, quality and efficacy. For this reason, it continues to act in accordance with the scientific and regulatory procedures necessary for the authorization of these products, ”reads an official note.

With information from ANSA

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