Via DW Brasil: ″The health system has already collapsed, and will continue to collapse.″ Excerpt from the Google translation:
In the midst of the worst moment of the covid-19 pandemic in Brazil, with the health system overburdened and vaccination moving at a slow pace , the country registered this Tuesday (04/04) another record of deaths related to the disease: there were 4,195 in 24 hours.
Brazil is currently the world leader in new daily deaths, and accounts for about 28% of new deaths by covid-19 in the world, according to data from the website Our World in Data, linked to the University of Oxford. In absolute numbers, Brazil is the second country with the most infections and deaths, behind only the United States.
This Tuesday, the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) released an extraordinary bulletin from the Covid-19 Observatory in which it predicts that the pandemic will remain at critical levels throughout the month of April. According to an analysis by the Institute of Metrics and Health Assessment at the University of Washington, United States, after living in March,the deadliest month of the pandemic , with 66,000 deaths linked to the covid-19, Brazil may come to register 100,000 deaths this month.
Infectologist David Sufiate works on the front lines in several hospitals in the state capital. In an interview with DW, he reports a dramatic picture. "I, as a doctor, an infectologist, an intensivist on the front line, get very discouraged. We are very sad to realize that the government's priority is not collective, the government's priority is individual", he says.
Sufiate predicts another two or three months with high mortality in the country, with up to 5,000 or 6,000 deaths by covid-19 per day. Regarding a collapse in the health system, he is categorical: "It will not collapse - it will continue to collapse. Because the collapse has already arrived. We are in it."
DW: Is the pandemic out of control in Brazil?
David Sufiate: It is difficult to even define control within a pandemic context. What is control? But, in fact, there is an overload on the health system as a whole. From the private network to the public network - both scenarios are very difficult.
At Fiocruz, we have been at full load for a month, or, better, above the maximum load in some moments. Currently, only [new patient after] enters what we are able to discharge or, unfortunately, the deaths. You can't even say it's worse, because it's been overloaded for at least three weeks.
Do you notice that the profile of patients is changing, since the elderly have been vaccinated?
Yes, this is very evident in all spheres of care. In the ICU that I coordinate, at Fiocruz, since yesterday, we no longer have patients with more than 80 years in hospital. This clearly reflects the vaccine's role in the pandemic. Now we have a scenario in which the youngest are exposed, because government policies encourage people to leave home, to expose themselves more. Thus, they get sicker.
Which age group is most affected today?
Between 40 and 60 years old, they are perhaps the most affected and most hospitalized people.
