Health systems in most of Brazil’s largest cities are close to collapse because of COVID cases, its leading health institute Fiocruz warns.
More than 80% of intensive care unit beds are occupied in the capitals of 25 of Brazil’s 27 states, Fiocruz said. The highly contagious variant that emerged in Brazil may have serious knock-on effects for the rest of the world, health experts have warned.
In a stark warning, Fiocruz epidemiologist Jesem Orellana told AFP news agency that “Brazil is a threat to humanity.”
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro had already provoked outrage among his citizens and rebukes from local leaders by telling people to “stop whining” about COVID. The country recorded 1972 COVID deaths on Tuesday, along with a surge to 70 000 cases — a 38% increase on last week’s figure. ICUs at 15 state capitals are at 90% capacity, said Fiocruz, and in two cities, Porto Alegre and Campo Grande, they had exceeded capacity.
“The fight against COVID was lost in 2020 and there is not the slightest chance of reversing this tragic circumstance in the first half of 2021,” Fiocruz’s Jesem Orellana said, as quoted by AFP.
“The best we can do is hope for the miracle of mass vaccination or a radical change in the management of the pandemic. Impunity in management seems to be the rule.”
Of the currently available vaccines, so far Pfizer’s has been confirmed to be effective in lab tests against a specially engineered version of the virus made to mimic the variant.
Source: BBC News
