Covid-19: Brazil is overwhelmed by the virus, its hospitals are saturated

In some hospitals, intensive care rooms are full and there is a waiting list (illustrative image).

Mauro PIMENTEL / AFP

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

In Brazil, the health situation continues to deteriorate rapidly.

The number of deaths which was 1,000 a day recently has risen to over 1,500 a day.

Hospitals in several large cities are saturated.

An epidemiologist says "Brazil is losing the battle" against the coronavirus.

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With our correspondent in Sao Paulo, 

Martin Bernard

In Sao Paulo, the largest private hospital is 104% full.

This means that not only are the intensive care rooms full, but there is a waiting list.

The situation is also very tense in the public service.

In Natal, in the Nordeste, some patients have to wait in ambulances for several hours before being hospitalized.

In the South, the situation has sharply worsened and confinement has been declared in several cities.  

This puts epidemiologists on high alert, like Jesem Orellana in Manaus.

“ 

This battle is lost, without a doubt,

” he said.

Brazil is unable to resolve the problem of transmission of the coronavirus within the community, nor to carry out a mass vaccination campaign. 

"

Read also: Covid-19 in Brazil: hundreds of NGOs and companies unite to speed up vaccination

Less than 5% of the population has been vaccinated in 6 weeks.

There is still no official campaign to explain to the population the benefits of this vaccination.

In Manaus, which has been the scene of serious crises due to the lack of structures and the appearance of an Amazon variant of the virus, Jesem Orellana now fears that the situation will repeat itself throughout the country.

 Brazil is unfortunately becoming what Manaus was a little over a month ago,” he

explains.

 Brazil is turning into a great Manaus due to health neglect. 

"

► To read also: "Manaus has become the world capital of Covid-19"

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