With the new rise in cases and deaths by Covid-19, the fall in the supply of beds, the dampened demand for assistance from other diseases, and the leaner budget, doctors and health managers predict in 2021 an even more challenging scenario than at the beginning of the pandemic.
Of the total of 16,500 hospital beds authorized by the Ministry of Health for Covid, only 4,580 were in operation, according to the latest update by Conass (National Council of Health Secretaries) on 11 December.
This occurs when the average number of Covid deaths in the country is up 27% from 15 days ago, with the number of daily deaths exceeding 900.
SUS lost 3,836 ICU beds from July to October, according to data from Amib (Brazilian Intensive Medicine Association). In the private network, there was also a loss of 4,961 beds in the same period.
At the same time, there is a consensus in the industry that it is no longer possible to prioritize only the cases of Covid. The lack of assistance from other diseases is already showing its impact: an increase in the mortality rate for other non-Covid diseases in ICUs.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon