There is a lack of sedatives in hospitals in Rio de Janeiro, where some health workers have reported having had to intubate Covid patients while awake. A nurse from the Albert Schweitzer hospital in Realengo, in the eastern part of Rio, told the G1 site that some seriously ill Covid patients are intubated awake and with their hands tied to the bed due to a lack of drugs. 118 Covid patients are hospitalized in the hospital, of which 40 are in intensive care. “They are awake, without sedatives, intubated, with their hands tied to the bed and begging us not to let them die,” said the nurse, in the form of anonymity.
In Brazil over 360,000 deaths, 3,459 deaths in 24 hours
Brazil has recorded 3,459 deaths related to Covid-19 in the last 24 hours and has exceeded 360,000 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, which is experiencing its worst phase in the South American country, according to data released by the government. In the last three days, the country has recorded 8,747 deaths related to the new coronavirus, which is spreading unchecked throughout the country, despite the mobility restrictions in force in many of the Brazilian states. The Ministry of Health recorded 73,513 infections in the last day, with which the total balance of positives since February 26, 2020, when the first case was notified, is 13,673,507, although health specialists estimate that, due to ‘Under-reporting’, the number could be up to “two or three times” higher.
Brazil is the second country with the highest number of deaths from Covid, after the United States, and the third for number of infected after the United States and India, although it is currently the place on the planet with the highest number of deaths from Covid, with an upward trend. The average during the past week was 3,015 deaths per day from the disease, which caused 361,884 deaths in just over a year, according to official data. The most worrying situation at the moment is in Sao Paulo, the most populated state, with 46 million inhabitants, and the richest in the country, and which today has almost 85,500 dead and 2.7 million infected.
Today the Sao Paulo authorities urged the Ministry of Health to send medical supplies and medicines to be able to intubate serious patients with Covid-19, given the risk that the few existing stocks will run out in the next 24 hours. On the judicial level, a report by the Court of Auditors of the Union (TCU), the body that oversees public spending by the State, highlighted serious omissions in the management of the former Minister of Health Eduardo Pazuello, in office from May 2020 until March this year.