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Much of the world is seeing coronavirus cases fall. But Brazil s outbreak is worse than ever.
Terrence McCoy, The Washington Post
March 1, 2021
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RIO DE JANEIRO - The senior health official looked into the camera, eyes wide. He had a message for those who wouldn t stop partying, wouldn t wear a mask, wouldn t take the coronavirus seriously. We have no ICU beds for your mother, Rondônia state Health Secretary Fernando Máximo said. We have no ICU beds your father, your aunt, your son, your girlfriend. We have no ICU beds for you.
On the opposite end of the country, more than 1,000 miles away, Santa Catarina state Health Secretary André Motta had a similar warning: We are reaching capacity! And in the northeast: Our health system will reach capacity and Brazil will be in chaos in two weeks, Bahia state Gov. Rui Costa said.
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“It is the most difficult moment that we have had since the confirmation of the first case,” Carlos Lula, chair of the National Council of Health Secretaries, was quoted as saying Thursday by O Globo newspaper. “We have never had so many states with so much difficulty at the same time.”
Alves and other public health experts said the spread is exacerbated by authorities’ reluctance to follow recommendations from international health organizations to implement stricter restrictions.
It is up to governors and mayors to impose lockdowns or other restrictions to contain the virus. The states of Sao Paulo and Bahia recently introduced nighttime curfews, but experts say the moves are too late and insufficient.
Brazil death toll tops 250,000 as the pandemic continues to worsen: ‘There’s no plan, at all’
Updated Feb 25, 2021;
Posted Feb 25, 2021
Health workers wheel in a patient suspected of suffering from COVID-19 into the Luziania field hospital, a suburb of Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021. With the cities on the borders of Brasilia in a state of calamity due to the pandemic and with high occupancy at ICU units, mayors want to implement more rigid restrictions and limit access to the capital where many of their residents work. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)AP
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RIO DE JANEIRO Brazil’s COVID-19 death toll, which surpassed 250,000 on Thursday, is the world’s second-highest for the same reason its second wave has yet to fade: Prevention was never made a priority, experts say.
Brazilian COVID-19 death toll exceeds 250,000 news.am - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from news.am Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Brazil death toll tops 250,000, virus still running rampant
By Staff | Feb 26, 2021
Health workers wheel in a patient suspected of suffering from COVID-19 into the Luziania field hospital, a suburb of Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021. With the cities on the borders of Brasilia in a state of calamity due to the pandemic and with high occupancy at ICU units, mayors want to implement more rigid restrictions and limit access to the capital where many of their residents work. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) Brazil’s COVID-19 death toll, which surpassed 250,000 on Thursday, is the world’s second-highest for the same reason its second wave has yet to fade: Prevention was never made a priority, experts say.