Covid-19 Cases Explode in Southern Bahia State; Government Assesses Shutdown

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – With 500 recorded Covid-19 cases, the southern region of Bahia has become one of the main hotspots for the spread of Covid-19 cases in the state, triggering a warning signal from the Bahian government.

In only one week, between April 20th and 27th, the number of cases in Itabuna – the region’s largest city – hiked from 40 to 148, an increase of 260 percent. In neighboring Ilhéus, a city with great tourist appeal, the number of cases increased from 78 to 179 over the same period.

The two cities are among those with the highest proportion of cases per million inhabitants, a list that also includes three other municipalities in the region: Uruçuca, Coaraci, and Gongogi.

Over the past week, the region has seen an increase in the number of cases three times higher than the state average, and now accounts for 20 percent of all Covid-19 deaths in Bahia. The escalation of cases is worrisome because of the limited structure of the public health system in the region’s cities.

According to data from the Bahia Health Secretariat, the municipalities in southern Bahia only hold 33 intensive care beds for Covid-19 in the public hospitals. The goal now is to double the number of beds. The increase in the number of cases prompted the governor of Bahia, Rui Costa, to assess a lockdown decree in Itabuna and Ilhéus, banning people from the streets. While there is no total lockdown, the guideline is to reinforce monitoring to enforce compliance with the restrictions.

“The State Police, along with agents from both cities’ municipal governments, has already intensified actions. We want to curb any noncompliance with the law so that we succeed in reducing the contamination rates”, said Governor Rui Costa on Monday, April 27th.

In Ilhéus, one of the epicenters of the disease is the Regional Costa do Cacau Hospital, a health facility that would not ordinarily be used for the treatment of Covid-19, but has started taking patients with the disease faced with high demand. In this hospital, 57 coronavirus cases have been recorded among professionals, including Gilmar Calazans Lima, who died last Tuesday, April 21st, after suffering a cardiac arrest. Ten days before, he had been diagnosed with Covid-19 and was undergoing quarantine.

However, the cases have extrapolated the circle of health professionals and have grown in recent weeks. According to the Secretary of Health, Fábio Vilas-Boas, the social isolation measures have not been strictly complied with in the region. Part of local commerce and open air markets have been operating as usual.

As of this week, the region’s city halls have tightened the rules for the operation of commercial business and the flow of people. Since Monday, April 27th, in Ilhéus, it is mandatory to wear masks for those walking in the streets. Anyone failing to wear the protective equipment may be arrested by the police.

Commercial establishments are now open on alternate days or with restricted hours, with the exception of pharmacies, supermarkets, and bakeries. In Itabuna, the use of masks has also become mandatory subject to a R$102 fine for those who fail to wear them. In addition to Ilhéus and Itabuna, other tourist cities in the region also face an escalation of cases.

In Uruçuca, a city with 20,000 inhabitants known for its paradisiacal, bustling beaches like Serra Grande, there are now 21 recorded cases and four deaths. Proportionally, it is the city with the most deaths by Covid-19 in Bahia – one for every 5,000 inhabitants.

In Itacaré, where a wedding at a resort spread the first cases of the disease in the region, there is only one recorded case. However, the city hall monitors suspected cases, including one person who died. In Ipiaú, a city with 45,000 inhabitants and 24 confirmed cases by the city hall, 11 professionals at the general hospital have been infected. Among them was Álvaro Jardim Fernandes, 26, an official from the hospital’s regulation department who died of Covid-19 on April 18th.

“He was a very dear person in the community. He was cheerful, committed to his work and wanted very much to work in the nursing area,” says the director of Ipiaú General Hospital Alexandro Miranda. Not even the death of a loved one in the community, however, reduced the traffic in the streets.

On Saturday night, April 25th, the police seized a van with 20 passengers heading to a party that was nicknamed “Covidfest”. In an attempt to contain the spread of the pandemic, the city decreed a curfew between 8 PM and 5 AM, a period in which movement on the city streets is forbidden.

The southern most region of Bahia has recorded 66 cases, 19 of which were in Porto Seguro, the state’s second main tourist destination. Neighboring Eunápolis records 16 cases and Santa Cruz Cabrália has eight cases. There is still no record of deaths by Covid-19 in this region.

Source: Folhapress