The Brazilian government has suffered harsh criticism in dealing with the crisis. Last week, Supreme Court judge Ricardo Lewandowski ordered the government to come up with a response plan to address the lack of oxygen, citing the Jair Bolsonaro government’s “silent behavior” in dealing with the emergency.
He also points out that the local government in Amazonas did not inform federal authorities about the impending oxygen shortage. “The Ministry of Health … took notice on the 8th (of January), by e-mail from the manufacturer of the product”, states the report. The provider, named in the report as White Martins, first notified the state government of Amazonas and then federal authorities, the report says.
It is not clear why the notification to the federal government about oxygen scarcity was supposedly left to a private company. According to the report of the Attorney General, the health department of Manaus knew that the city’s health system had been on the verge of collapse since the beginning of January.
Manaus city officials have not responded to a request for comment from CNN.
A spokesman for the state government of Amazonas told CNN that they would provide “clarifications” to the Attorney General’s Office and added that the state continues to work to mitigate the crisis, including, “the transportation of oxygen from other states to Manaus, the installation of mini oxygen in hospitals, transfer of patients for care in other states and requisition of all production from local oxygen suppliers ”.
But the Attorney General’s report raises doubts as to why the federal Ministry of Health was unable to help prevent the collapse of the Manaus health system, after receiving prior notice. Ministry officials traveled to Manaus in early January and Pazuello was personally in the city from January 11 to 13.
The disaster hit the city’s hospitals the next day. On January 14, state authorities in Amazonas announced that Manaus hospitals and emergency rooms were facing a dire shortage of oxygen amid growing cases in Covid-19. “We are facing many difficulties in obtaining medical supplies. And as everyone is following, our main difficulty now is to obtain oxygen,” Governor Wilson Lima told reporters.
Although the Brazilian Air Force responded by providing emergency supplies of liquid and gaseous oxygen, the shortage continues. Logistical problems aggravated the crisis, since the supply of Manaus enters the city mainly through the Amazon River. There is only one highway outside the city, which connects it to the neighboring state of Amapá.
Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello defended his agency’s response. “We acted immediately,” he said at a news conference in Brasilia on Monday. “There was no indication of a lack of oxygen at our meetings in early January. The increase in cases was very rapid,” he said.
“When U.S [visited Manaus] in [January] 4, the problem was not oxygen. The problem was the structure of the beds, the number of Covid-19 patients, the queues, “said Pazuello.
The appointment of Pazuello, a former military commander, by Bolsonaro, to lead the Ministry of Health, was severely criticized by the opponent, as the number of Covid-19 deaths in Brazil remains the second highest in the world, behind only the U.S.
Bolsonaro himself rejected any responsibility for the city’s lethal crisis. “There is a problem in Manaus … We regret the deaths from asphyxiation, from lack of oxygen, and people blame the government. We have already allocated billions to the states, but those responsible for the lack of medicines are the state and municipal health secretaries, “he told supporters on Monday.
His statement followed Vice President Hamilton Mourão’s statement last week that no one could have predicted the collapse of the city’s health care system.
“You cannot predict what would happen with this strain (of the virus) that is occurring in Manaus. Totally different from what happened in the first half ”, said Mourão.