Brazil at the limit – “You don’t want to accept the seriousness of the situation”

While hospitals in Brazil are reaching their limits, sections of the population and the government are taking the corona virus lightly.

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Dona Amalia’s relatives are desperate. “Aren’t you going to take us on?” They plead. “The woman dies in the car!” But the paramedics behind the locked front door of the hospital don’t respond. Finally a man comes out. “We can’t do anything,” he says. Then the dramatic video from the Brazilian Amazon city of Manaus breaks off. Upon request, the local health secretariat assures that the woman was ultimately cared for. However, she was already dying there.

The hospital has recently been reserved exclusively for Covid 19 patients – other emergencies are no longer treated. With the growing number of corona infections, healthcare in Manaus is at the limit. Even before the pandemic broke out, chaotic conditions prevailed there. Officials were arrested for corruption and salaries were not paid. Now residents of Manaus tell on the phone that they are only asked to go to a hospital if they have breathing problems. “The system has collapsed,” says one of them.

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After a video circulated, showing patients next to dead people wrapped in plastic sheeting, a refrigerated container for storing corpses was set up in front of a hospital. Mass graves have been dug, the coffins are now stacked on top of each other. More than 66,500 people across the country have been infected with the virus, and 4,543 have so far died in connection with it. According to the observatory of Brazilian universities, the number of corona deaths recently doubled within eight days.

“This is the beginning of the most difficult phase in Brazil,” says political scientist Mauricio Santoro from the University of the State of Rio de Janeiro to the German Press Agency. “According to a screenplay that we have already seen elsewhere – in Brazil difficult because of our difficult social situation.”

«Critical moment of the pandemic»

In other cities, too, hospitals have reached their limits. There are no longer any free beds for corona patients in the intensive care units of the public clinics in Rio de Janeiro. Gelson Wagner Vossa Vaz has been in the emergency room for days and should really be transferred to an intensive care unit. «He has already been intubated. His condition is very serious, »said his brother Roberto Carlos to the news portal« G1 ».

Now Rio is relying on temporary hospitals in tents – among others in the Maracana Stadium. «We are at a very critical moment in the pandemic. The rush is very large, »says director Werner Scheinflug. “It is the moment when it is most necessary to help and to take the pressure off to relieve the other hospitals.”

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Equipment and materials have been made available by one of the largest private hospital groups in Brazil. In the metropolis of São Paulo, on the other hand, there are major problems with the supply of material. Most recently, nurses and nurses demonstrated due to lack of protective equipment. “We start at 7 a.m. and during the break we hang up the disposable cloak,” says a sister. “Then we use it again until 7 p.m.” The protective suit would have to be disposed of after each patient contact. “A hospital management that exposes someone to this risk is responsible for what can happen,” says the president of the São Paulo public employees’ union, Sergio Antiqueira.

People take off the protective masks to chat

Often, however, dealing with the crisis in Brazil is still decidedly casual: in Rio de Janeiro, people take off their protective masks for a chat on the street, some stand together in pubs as if nothing had happened. “You don’t want to realize the seriousness of the situation yet,” says a taxi driver. Right-wing populist President Jair Bolsonaro also takes the corona virus lightly, does not believe in restrictions, calls for a return to normal.

This is in stark contrast to neighboring Argentina, where a restrictive curfew has applied since March 20. Most people are not allowed to leave their homes. Only errands in nearby grocery stores and pharmacies are permitted. The police are enforcing exit restrictions: thousands of people have been provisionally arrested for violations.

Thanks to the restrictive corona policy, the government of President Alberto Fernández has managed to keep the number of infections and victims fairly low. So far, only 4003 people have been proven to be infected with the novel corona virus, 197 patients died of the lung disease Covid-19. The government used the time gained to build provisional clinics and increase healthcare capacity.

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In Brazil, on the other hand, Bolsonaro is at odds with its ministers and governors and is fighting trenches. “All this naturally makes the fight against the pandemic more difficult,” says political scientist Santoro.

Shopping centers partially reopened

In the dispute over the correct handling of the virus, Bolsonaro dismissed the popular health minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta, who had followed a strict line. Prominent Justice Minister and former corruption investigator Sergio Moro resigned due to disagreement. Governors of important states like Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo had restrictions on public life.

Some, like the governor of Santa Catarina, also followed Bolsonaro’s motto “Brazil must not stand still”. While the death toll continues to rise and Brazil is heading for collapse, a shopping center has already been reopened in Blumenau in the south of the country. The visitors poured in tightly – under the applause of the employees.

(sho / sda)

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