The infection pressure in Brazil may be too much for the country’s hospitals

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If the pressure on health care does not subside, the country is now running out of beds and places in the intensive care unit, Governor Wellington Dias told the state-run Piauí news agency AP.

– We have reached the border all over Brazil, with a few exceptions, said Dias.

– There is a real danger of dying without help, he added.

The rise in infection is particularly linked to a Brazilian mutation, P1, which Brazil’s health minister last month said was three times as contagious as the original virus.

Hospitals have already been forced not to accept patients. In the state of São Paulo, at least 30 people lost their lives this month while queuing for intensive care units, according to figures published on Wednesday by the news website G1.

In the southern state of Santa Catarina, 419 people are queuing for the intensive care unit, while the capacity in the neighboring state of Rio Grande do Sul has been blown up.

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War situation

Doctor Alexandre Zavasci in Rio Grande do Sul’s capital, Porto Alegre, talks about a constant flow of hospital patients struggling to breathe.

– This is not a health care we are used to providing routinely. This is health care intended for a war situation, Zavasci told AP.

Despite the fact that the situation is serious for the sick and their relatives, there are still many Brazilians who do not take the virus seriously, the doctor said.

– A large part of the population refuses to take in what is happening and refuses to relate to the facts. These people may be the next to end up in hospital and need a bed, but there will be none available, he said.

Zavasci believes that the authorities must step in and introduce stricter measures.

Local restrictions

But President Jair Bolsonaro and his government are reluctant to shut down. Last year, several cities and states imposed strict restrictions on their own initiative, which provoked the president. He believes that the most important thing is to maintain economic activity.

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The restrictions were eased at New Year when a decline in the infection trend was reported. Many Brazilians are also tired of isolation and restrictions, and want to return to normal.

At the same time, new dismal records are being set. Last week, 10,000 deaths were registered, which was a new weekly record. On Wednesday this week, a new 24-hour record was also set, with 2,286 new deaths.

The country has now registered nearly 271,000 deaths and eleven million cases of infection since the outbreak of the pandemic, according to figures from the corona survey of Johns Hopkins University.

Will not shut down

The recent rise in infection is of concern not only to politicians and doctors, but also to Brazil’s neighbors and the World Health Organization (WHO).

“Across the country, strict health and social measures are crucial,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news conference on March 5.

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“Without taking steps to prevent the spread of infection or kill the virus, I do not think we will see a downward trend in Brazil,” he added.

But so far, there is little indication that President Jair Bolsonaro will turn around in his pandemic strategy. He also continues to promote alternative and undocumented treatments and medications, such as malaria pills and an experimental nasal spray.

Brazil’s national council of state health ministers last week officially called for national closures and restrictions in areas where the health system is reaching maximum capacity.

“I do not want to decide anything like that,” Bolsonaro said on Monday.

– And you can be sure of one thing: My army is not going out into the streets

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