RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – When the novel coronavirus pandemic began to spread across Brazil earlier this year, the southern region seemed to have privileged weapons to contain it.
It had a stronger healthcare system given the inequality that plagued the country and saw the pandemic increase more slowly. Governors imposed restrictions to curb contagion and had time to prepare their healthcare systems. While they increased hospital beds, the curve of new cases remained flat until early June, unlike in most Brazilian regions.
After this, the country experienced a brief slowdown of the pandemic, but now it is observing a new upswing, which is taking over the South. Together, the three states that comprise the region account for one-third of all new cases registered in Brazil over the last epidemiological week – which ran from December 13th to 19th. Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina also had 26% of deaths registered during this time, according to Ministry of Health data.
The contagion rate in southern Brazil was the highest in the country in November (1.8) and managed to reduce it to 0.95 on December 13th, the most recent monitoring date of Info Traker, a tool that monitors the progress of Covid-19 cases in the country.
This rate suggests a potential slowdown of new contagions, but in practice the region is experiencing a complex situation – with crowded hospitals, waiting lines for an ICU bed in some locations and difficulty in hiring additional healthcare professionals to increase assistance. From a region less affected by the coronavirus, it has gone to one of the most worrisome and now experiences a situation as serious as in other parts of Brazil. Data from Info Traker show that the South has the longest average time to solve hospitalized cases in the country, 20 days, as does the Northeast.
Paraná has felt heavy pressure from Covid-19 on its healthcare system. Over the past week, the population of the state’s northwest has seen its beds reach maximum capacity and a waiting list has been set up to take intensive care cases. The state even suspended the closure of ICU beds specific for the treatment of the disease last month, but it nevertheless has an 89% occupancy rate.
In the capital Curitiba, this rate rises to over 90%. And there are difficulties in increasing assistance. In the western region of the state, ventilators and monitors were left idle because of hardship in hiring healthcare professionals.
Paraná is the state presenting the worst indicators in the region over the past week: it added 44,567 new cases and 507 deaths by Covid-19. The state government is working to increase beds before the summer season, and Governor Ratinho Júnior has been urging the population to cooperate with social distancing. There is great concern over the New Year’s Eve celebrations. Last year, Guaratuba, Matinhos and Pontal do Paraná alone – on the coast of Paraná – gathered over 2.5 million people in the turn of the year celebrations.
Rio Grande do Sul, with a similar population – around 11 million, like Paraná – is also witnessing cases of Covid-19 increasing. With 29,008 new infections and 485 deaths last week, the state’s ICU beds have an 81% occupancy rate. And 96% of the population is at a high risk of contagion, in locations under the red flag of social distancing measures.
The capital city of Porto Alegre, with approximately 90% of its ICU beds occupied, was preparing for the danger of having its healthcare system collapse in January, but given the speed of contagion, it expects depletion to occur sooner. Porto Alegre even succeeded in reopening approximately 60 beds in recent weeks, but is facing challenges to continue expanding given the difficulty in hiring healthcare teams. As an alternative, it is considering extending trade restrictions during Christmas week.
Santa Catarina, with a population of approximately seven million, is also experiencing a rise in coronavirus cases. The healthcare system is under a worrying pressure: 87.6% of the SUS’ ICU beds are full. Yet, restrictive measures were relaxed this week. Of the state’s 16 regions, 15 are classified as at very high risk for the disease. Nevertheless, movie theaters, events with an audience and conferences are now allowed, although with a maximum of 30% of public. Hotels may operate at 100% capacity, despite the figures.
“The Government of Santa Catarina is attentive to the feeling of the people of Santa Catarina and the fight for a balance between the fight against the pandemic and socioeconomic welfare,” argued the state management in a note, which considered the presence of tourists in the state an “inexorable reality, to which one cannot close one’s eyes”. The case landed in Court, which granted 48 hours starting on Tuesday for the State to extend restrictions and suspend authorization for 100% hotel occupancy. In case of non-compliance with the Court ruling, it will incur a daily fine of R$10,000.
The Santa Catarina coast, which traditionally sees its beaches crowded with tourists for the New Year’s Eve parties, had its musical and fireworks shows cancelled by Mayors – this is the case, for instance, of the turn of the year parties in Florianópolis and Balneário Camboriú.
With the start of summer, the situation observed on the Santa Catarina coast has been one of crowded beaches, despite the high pandemic rates. The ICU occupancy rate for Covid-19 of the Ruth Cardoso Municipal Hospital, in Balneário Camboriú, is over 90%.
In the metropolitan region of Florianópolis, the SUS (National Health Service) ICU bed occupancy rate stands at 81.3%. The capital of Santa Catarina went through almost a month with no deaths by Covid-19 registered in May but is now feeling the pressure of the pandemic. In an attempt to contain the advance of the virus, the City Hall has intensified its efforts to screen tourists.
On Tuesday afternoon, December 22nd, a video of President Jair Bolsonaro fishing with TV host Ratinho went viral. Both were on a boat with other people, wearing no masks nor respecting the distancing rules. Bolsonaro has spent a few days in São Francisco do Sul with no official agenda, after visiting the state due to heavy rains that killed 15 people.
On Monday, he also prompted crowds after a dive in the sea. Bolsonaro greeted the population, took pictures and picked up children in his arms. In his last live stream, the President had already announced that he would take a few days off to go fishing.
The prominence of the Southern region at this time of pandemic surge demonstrates that all Brazilian regions are now experiencing worrying transmission scenarios, as the very different rates at the start of the crisis in the vast national territory are now moving closer.
The scenario projected for the whole country for the start of next year has led managers in all regions to expand restrictive measures, particularly because of the end-of-year parties. It is never too much to remind about preventive precautions, such as the wearing of masks, hand sanitizing and distancing measures.
Source: El Pais
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