SÃO PAULO (AP) – Dozens of patients with COVID-19 in the largest city in the Amazon rainforest will be transferred out of the state as the local health system collapses and the reduction of oxygen tank stocks means that Brazilians have started dying out of breath at home.
Doctors in Manaus, a city of 2 million inhabitants, are choosing which patients to treat and at least one of the city’s cemeteries asks the mourners to line up to enter and bury their dead. The strains led the state government of Amazonas to announce that it will send 235 patients who depend on oxygen, but are not in intensive care units, to five other states and to the capital, Brasília.
“I want to thank the governors who are giving us a hand in a human gesture,” said the governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima, at a news conference on Thursday.
“Everyone looks at us when there is a problem like the lungs of the Earth,” he said, referring to a common description of the Amazon. “Now we are asking for help. Our people need that oxygen. “
Manaus authorities recently called on the federal government to reinforce its ever-decreasing supply of oxygen needed to keep COVID-19 patients breathing. The 14-day death toll in the city is approaching the peak of the first wave last year, according to official data.
At that first peak, Manaus consumed a maximum of 30,000 cubic meters (about 1 million cubic feet) of oxygen per day, and that more than doubled to almost 70,000 cubic meters, according to White Martins, a multinational that supplies oxygen to Manaus’ public hospitals. In his press conference, Governor Lima White Martins for the scarcity of supply.
“Due to the strong impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, oxygen consumption in the city has increased exponentially in recent days compared to a volume that was already extremely high,” said White Martins in an e-mailed statement to The Associated Press. “Demand is much greater than anything predictable and … continues to grow significantly.”
The company added that the Manaus location presents a logistical challenge, requiring additional stocks to be transported by boat and plane.
Governor Lima also enacted more restrictions, including the suspension of public transport and the establishment of a curfew between 7 pm and 6 am
The new measures challenged the protesters who, on Thursday morning, took Brazilian flags through the streets. Lima, previously seen as an ally of President Jair Bolsonaro, has faced criticism from supporters of the conservative leader for imposing new restrictions in order to contain the recent outbreak of the virus.
Bolsonaro downplayed the risks of the disease, saying the economic consequences of the pandemic will kill more than the virus.
Parque das Tribos, a community of more than 2,500 Indians on the outskirts of Manaus, spent more than two months without any residents showing symptoms of COVID-19. Last week, 29 people tested positive, according to Vanda Ortega, a volunteer nurse in the community. Two went to emergency care units, but none yet needed hospitalization.
“We are really very concerned,” said Ortega, who belongs to the Witoto ethnic group. “It is chaos here in Manaus. There is no oxygen for anyone. “
The increase in cases comes after two months of more frequent meetings, first during the November local elections, with large rallies and long lines of voters, followed by year-end festivities.
The city of Manaus declared a state of emergency on January 5. The decree allows the municipal government to temporarily hire staff, services and materials without bidding. A separate decree suspends authorization for events and revokes those already granted, while a third decrees teleworking for non-essential municipal officials until March.
An article published this week indicated that a new strain of coronavirus was circulating in Manaus in mid-December. The newspaper said it raised concerns about increased transmissibility or potential for reinfection, although such possibilities remain unproven.
A positive COVID-19 test does not reveal which variant of the virus the patient has, but it is likely that the new strain was partially responsible for driving the second wave of Manaus, according to Pedro Hallal, coordinating epidemiologist at the Federal University of the Pelotas test program , by far the most comprehensive in Brazil.
“If it was circulating in mid-December, it is now probably circulating much more,” Hallal said by telephone. “So I think at least part of the new infections are due to the new strain. We don’t have the definitive data on it, but it is very likely. “
On Thursday morning, Folha de S.Paulo newspaper said that the Brazilian Air Force could transfer up to 750 patients from Manaus, which neither the Air Force nor local health officials confirmed to the AP on Thursday afternoon. . ___ Biller reported from Rio de Janeiro.