In Brazil, another record number of people have died from the effects of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. The South American country’s health ministry reported 3,251 deaths on Tuesday. The previous record (2,841) was dated just a week ago.
In addition, nearly 50,000 new infections were reported. In Brazil (population 210 million), 298,676 people have died from the corona virus so far. More than twelve million people were infected.
The large increase in the number of new infections is putting enormous pressure on the Brazilian health system, which, according to the experts, is on the verge of collapse. The flow of patients does not appear to be stagnating in the coming weeks. The South American country has been reporting tens of thousands of new infections every day for months.
Brazil’s Fiocruz scientific institute said a week ago that many hospitals in the country are under severe pressure. In 25 of the 27 states, COVID-19 departments are more than 80 percent full. Some hospitals have no place at all for COVID-19 patients.
It is not the first time that hospitals in Brazil are in danger of becoming overloaded. That already happened in January the metropolis of Manaus, when hospitals faced severe shortages of oxygen, hospital beds and other medical equipment.
New health minister sworn in
Marcelo Queiroga has been the new Minister of Health since Tuesday. In contrast to his three predecessors who had held the post since the corona pandemic, he has called on Brazilians to wear a face mask and wash their hands often. Queiroga did not want to proceed to a lockdown yet.
He is following the course of President Jair Bolsonaro, who has always played down the corona virus. Criticism of his policy has increased sharply in recent weeks. The president is internationally known as someone who is fiercely opposed to lockdowns and masks. He previously promoted the use of unproven drugs such as the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine.
The vaccination campaign is also getting off to a slow start. Brazilian pharmaceutical company União Quimica on Tuesday expected it to receive government approval within “two to three days” to produce Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine in Brazil. Two months ago, the company had already asked for accelerated approval, but the authorities kept asking for additional information.
An additional corona vaccine on the Brazilian market could speed up the vaccination campaign. Less than 8 percent of Brazilians have currently received a first corona pepper, only 3 percent of the population has received both doses.
– .
