Doctors from São Paulo found themselves in a "WhatsApp war" over the projected spread of the novel coronavirus in Brazil and how to handle information on the subject.
The different narratives started from an audio in which the cardiologist Fábio Jatene, director of the thoracic surgery service of the Instituto do Coração (InCor) of Hospital das Clínicas, presents a dramatic scenario for the spread of the coronavirus in the country.
In the recording, which went viral this morning (12) and whose veracity was confirmed by the cardiologist to Folha, he reports a meeting he had with some of the most renowned doctors in São Paulo. The audio, according to Jatene, was only sent to his colleagues, but people leaked it and disseminated it through messaging applications.
Jatene says in the audio that doctors at the meeting estimated that in four months there will be 45,000 people with coronavirus in Greater São Paulo alone. The forecast is that 11 thousand of them will need ICUs (a number São Paulo does not).
According to Folha, the medical authorities of the São Paulo government estimates that about 5,000 ICU beds will be needed. However, the range of the estimate ranges from 2,500 to 9,000 beds, only in Greater São Paulo. There are still no elements in Brazil to estimate the number of cases that require intensive monitoring.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon