First Hospitals Reach their Limits in Brazil as Virus Spreads

HAVANA TIMES – Brazil’s hospitals are reaching their limits as the number of people infected with the novel coronavirus continues to increase, reported dpa news.

In the state of Sao Paulo, where more than 600 people have died of Covid-19, the intensive care units of at least five hospitals were working at full capacity, according to a report by news portal G1 on Saturday. 

Rio de Janeiro’s four largest hospitals reportedly no longer had any free beds in their intensive care units. In Fortaleza the number of patients on respirators recently doubled. 

And in Manaus, in the Amazon, a refrigerated container has been parked in front of a large hospital to store the bodies of the dead. 

So far, 33,682 people are suffering from the coronavirus, and 2,141 patients have died.

While some governors in Brazil have now ordered lockdowns and other measures in their states, President Jair Bolsonaro has called these excessive and favours returning to normal life as soon as possible. 

He recently dismissed his health minister after a difference of opinion about how to handle the epidemic.