Amazonas State, Brazil - Credit Wikipedia
According to the
Amazonas government website , as Jan 13th they had confirmed
219,544 COVID cases in the state, of which 91,461 were from the capital Manaus (41.66%) and 128,083 from the interior of the state (58.34%).
While there is much we don't know about this emerging variant, yesterday the UK Ordered a Travel Ban From South America & Portugal ,
A quick perusal of the government website's news feed
A few examples include:
Security forces apprehend truck carrying 33 oxygen cylinders in Manaus
Soldiers of the Military Police transport and secure 150 oxygen cylinders
Covid-19: Amazonas Government administratively requests oxygen from 18 PIM industries
Yesterday, the The Amazonas Military Police
(PMAM) announced plans to reinforce policing in hospitals in Manaus to
ensure the safety of health professionals and the flow of work,
while the government imposed a statewide (7pm-6am) curfew for the next 10 days.
Late yesterday the decision was made to evacuate more than 230 COVID patients to other states due to the lack of oxygen and hospitals being overwhelmed. The governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima, stated:
“We are at the most critical moment of the pandemic. Something unprecedented in the state of Amazonas, where we face many difficulties in obtaining inputs. The main difficulty nowadays has been the acquisition of oxygen ”
The following government announcement describes the situation in more detail.
On Thursday (01/14), the governments of Amazonas and Federal launched a Cooperation Plan, with the support of five other Brazilian states, for the air transport and treatment, initially, of 235 patients affected by Covid- 19 in Manaus, whose clinical conditions are considered moderate. The measure, announced by the governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima, in a statement at the head of the Rapid Response Committee in the official State Government networks, was taken based on the scarcity of oxygen to supply the demand generated by the increase in hospitalizations due to the pandemic in the state public health system. “We are at the most critical moment of the pandemic. Something unprecedented in the state of Amazonas, where we face many difficulties in obtaining inputs. The main difficulty nowadays has been the acquisition of oxygen ” , highlighted the governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima, during the speech, which was also attended by the secretary of Specialized Attention of the Ministry of Health (MS), Colonel Luiz Otávio Franco Duarte, and the Secretary of State for Health, Marcellus Campêlo, among other representatives of state agencies.One hundred patients will be transferred to hospitals of the Brazilian Hospital Services Company (EBSERH), in Maranhão, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte, Goiás and the Federal District, in addition to another 100 to the state health network in Goiás. Therefore, a strategy was developed for the transfer of patients. “Governments and the Armed Forces have started to work for logistical support and oxygen delivery. But, we had a peak and an increase in demand above expectations ”, he explained. The expressive increase occurred between the 1st and 12th of this month. Marcellus explained that the lack of input will also hinder the opening of beds already ready to be qualified in units such as the Hospital Universitário Getúlio Vargas (HUGV) and the Hospital Nilton Lins, whose structure is ready to go into operation. “They were unable to activate beds due to the oxygen contingency, which is unprecedented (in the state). It is necessary for the population to understand and support (the measures) ”, he stressed. The secretary of Specialized Attention of the MS, Colonel Luiz Otávio Franco Duarte, stressed that the transport of patients will be done in a coordinated manner, with assistance support from at least two health teams. At first, Gol Linhas Aéreas will provide support, but other companies may be hired during the plan. The Mobile Emergency Service (Samu) is also assisting in the supply of material to be used in transportation. “They are patients who are still dependent on oxygen, but they have all the security to be airborne. It is very important to understand that the patient from Amazonas who gets on the aircraft will have all the safety and assistance, with coverage even by psychosocial assistants so that there is no fault ”, he guaranteed. He highlighted the importance of uniting the three spheres, through SUS Tripartite, to address the issue. He also reinforced that a technical feasibility study was carried out to find out which states would be able to assist in assistance support, without their health networks being greatly impacted. According to Franco Duarte, a technical cooperation with the Sírio-Libanês Hospital has been developed to optimize the use of oxygen, since patients in moderate stage of the disease consume, on average, 15 thousand liters of the input per minute, due to dyspnea. (Continue . . . ) How much of this surge is driven by the new variant is uncertain, but it likely exacerbates the situation.
Meanwhile the governor of neighboring Pará state announced new measures to restrict land, river, and air travel to and from Amazonas state.
Governor announces new measures to prevent the proliferation of Covid-19 in Pará
