Almost 20 Brazilian capitals on the verge of hospital collapse – Fiocruz

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The country is living its worst moment since the start of the pandemic, according to the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz). The institution has prepared a ranking of the capitals with the highest ICU Covid-19 beds occupancy rates.

“It is the most critical situation since the first cases were registered a year ago,” says Margareth Portela, researcher at the Fiocruz Covid-19 Observatory. At least 12 states and the Federal District, which reached 96% capacity in its intensive care units on Friday, February 25th, have been placed on high alert.

Among the capitals, 17 are in the same situation, with an ICU bed occupancy rate above 80%. “When it reaches this level, it is considered something very worrying, on the verge of collapse, according to the World Health Organization guidelines,” says Portela. “To rise from 80% to 90% or even higher is not very difficult, even more so when it comes to Covid, which can be a rapidly evolving disease.”

The capitals with the highest ICU bed occupancy rates in Brazil:

Porto Velho (RO): 100%
Florianópolis (SC): 96.2%.
Manaus (AM): 94.6%.
Goiânia (GO) and Fortaleza (CE): 94.4%
Teresina (PI): 93%
Curitiba (PR): 90%.
Natal (RN): 89%.
Rio Branco (AC): 88.7%
São Luís (MA): 88.1%.
Campo Grande (MT): 85.5%
Rio de Janeiro (RJ): 85%.
Porto Alegre (RS): 84%.
Salvador (BA): 82.5%
Palmas (TO): 80.2%
Recife (PE): 80%.

In the North region, Rondônia, with 97.1% occupancy of its ICU beds, has already experienced a collapse in its public health system, followed by Amazonas (94.6%). “When intensive care unit beds are exhausted, it means that most likely a hospital will not be able to take more patients in critical condition not only from Covid-19, but also from other diseases,” says Portela.

In the Southeast, ICU occupancy stands at 70%, on average, as is the case in São Paulo. “Attention is also needed in the region’s states, as it’s likely that there will be a rise in hospitalizations,” says Portela. “Social distancing measures are not very restrictive, and many people don’t wear masks or follow other measures to prevent infection.”

Santa Catarina is the state with most alarming situation in the South, with a 93.4% ICU bed occupancy rate. With a 96.2% ICU bed occupancy, Florianópolis is the capital in Brazil with the second-worst rate, after Porto Velho, in the state of Rondônia. Technically, the state has exhausted its capacity to treat covid patients who reach the hospitals in critical condition.

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