Covid in Brazil is back out of control. Appeals for a new lockdown

by time news

Time.news – The health situation in Brazil is increasingly complicated, which continues to grind records in the number of deaths and infections, and where local health authorities are now multiplying appeals to the government because impose a national lockdown.

Brazil is currently the global epicenter of the crisis, the second country for the number of deaths and deaths after the United States where, however, a systematic vaccination campaign is underway: it has recorded 2,841 deaths from viruses in the last 24 hours, a new daily record since beginning of the pandemic, which has already caused more than 282 thousand deaths and 11.6 million infections.

The number of deaths recorded on Tuesday far exceeds that of Wednesday last week (2,286 victims), which had been the deadliest day since the start of the pandemic so far; and now the toll is about 3 thousand deaths a day.

On Tuesday evening the ministry was late in giving the data, it released them an hour later than usual and at that point they were higher than those which had been indicated shortly before by the National Health Council (2340 dead) and which, however, evidently they weren’t up to date.

Meanwhile, the health authorities of the most populous state, Sao Paulo, have invited the new health minister to consider imposing a national lockdown. Marcelo Queiroga, will be officially appointed today (it is the fourth that has succeeded at the head of the department since the beginning of the pandemic)

President Jair Bolsonaro has consistently opposed quarantine measures introduced by state governors, arguing that the collateral damage to the economy is far worse than the effects of the virus itself.

Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Queiroga urged Brazilians to wear face masks and wash their hands, but made no mention of lockdowns or social distancing measures.

Meanwhile, the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, the most important scientific research center in Latin America, noted that Brazil is experiencing “the heaviest health and hospital crisis in its history” and called for “urgent” reinforcement of measures to curb the infections.

According to the most up-to-date data, in the public health system of 25 of the 27 Brazilian states, the employment rates of the Intensive Care Units are equal to or higher than 80%, and in 15 regions they have already exceeded 90% of their capacity, an “absolutely critical” situation, warns the institute.

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