On the Verge of Collapse by Coronavirus, Amazonas Has 95% Occupancy of ICUs and Respirators

Governor says system will last another week

Manaus

With 95 percent of its ICUs and respirators occupied, the health system of the state of Amazonas is on the verge of collapse. The governor said the health system could manage for one more week.

This Tuesday, the Amazon counted 104 new confirmed cases, reaching 636 infected by Sars-CoV-2, with 23 deaths.

There are 256 patients with COVID-19 admitted to the private and public networks, both in clinical and ICU beds, which represents 40% of all cases.

Tuesday's new records include three Kokama indigenous people in Santo Antônio do Içá, a municipality on the Solimões River channel. There was already a confirmed indigenous case in the region. The source spread is a white doctor from Sesai (Special Secretariat for Indigenous Health). In the public ICUs of Manaus, the only city with this resource in Amazonas.

A man wearing a protective face mask buys fish at the "Modern Fair" of the Port of Manaus during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Manaus, Brazil, April 4, 2020. REUTERS/Bruno Kelly - REUTERS

In Manaus, there are 18 confirmed patients with novel coronavirus and another 41 people suspected of having coronavirus with severe acute respiratory syndrome. All of these patients are in public ICUs, the only city in Manaus with this resource.

"Some of these suspects in the ICU may have some of these viruses [Influenza and others], which does not make the situation any less serious. We have ICU beds being used by these patients, which can make it difficult for patients with COVID-19 to be admitted to the ICU", said the director-president of the Health Surveillance Foundation (FVS), Rosemary Costa Pinto, in the same interview.

Translated by Kiratiana Freelon

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