(Newser)
– The headlines about the state of affairs in Brazil this month have been grim. Things are much worse now. The BBC reports that on Tuesday evening the country reported 2,841 deaths through COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, which it considers a “big jump” from the previous high of 2,286 on March 10. The Fiocruz Health Institute said: “The analysis by our researchers suggests that it is the largest collapse of the hospital and health services in the history of Brazil. ” More:
- The country will hold the appointment of the fourth pandemic health minister, Brazilian cardiologist Marcelo Queiroga, on Wednesday. Reuters reported that no delivery date has been set.
- He is urged to weigh the possibility of a national blockade, but did not go far in Tuesday’s comments, in which he promoted masks and hand washing, but did not push social distance.
- President Jair Bolsonaro has voiced his distaste for the blockades, and the AP reports that Queiroga said on Tuesday that the COVID-19 policy it will implement “belongs to the Bolsonaro administration, not the health minister.”
- Reuters reports that Queiroga will take over the slot owned by Eduardo Pazuello, an active army general who has no medical education and has been in office since May, reports AP. The two health ministers in front of him lasted only a short time, partly because they would not support the use of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID treatment.
- to Washington Post, Ishaan Tharoor provides a global context: Brazil ranks 2nd in total cases and deaths, behind the US. But things are getting better here and worse there, in part due to the spread of a more contagious P1 variant in the last two months. Tharoor adds that the use of coronavirus tests, “the key to tracking and stopping growth in cases,” has declined sharply since December.
- The BBC reports that the ICUs in Rio Grande do Sul are 100% full, and a local politician there shared an idea on Monday showing the situation of despair. guardian Councilor Alberi Dias reports: “We have a lot of business people here who own helicopters and planes … I don’t know if there is a liquid version of alcohol gel, but I think spraying would be a good idea because the virus is in the air … I use airplanes to spray crops. Maybe it’s a good idea, because alcohol gel doesn’t hurt. “
- As for Brazil’s vaccination rate, it is low. Our data world lists its current number of single doses per 100 people at 5.6, compared to 32.62 in the US.
(Read more COVID-19 articles.)