Doctors from 15 private hospitals in the city of São Paulo indicate an increase in the number of hospitalizations due to Covid-19 | Saint Paul

The pandemic began in March in Brazil, with the capital of São Paulo and the state of São Paulo as the initial epicenter. However, with the decrease in the indicators of deaths and weekly cases, the state relaxed the imposed social distance rules and authorized the opening of shops and parks. Doctors now point out, however, that this attenuation is generating a new incidence of cases in people who were previously isolated at home.

For them, the main reason for the discharge is the relaxation of preventive measures against the coronavirus. According to specialists in the disease who work in large private hospital networks in the São Paulo capital, in the last three weeks, the number of hospitalizations has increased again, in addition to visits to the emergency room for the disease.

The measure already causes the reopening of exclusive beds for Covid-19 in private hospitals, according to the entities.

Dr. Marcio Sommer Bittencourt, a master in public health from Harvard University, has been monitoring data from private hospitals in the pandemic since the beginning and confirming the uptrend of the curve.

“We have 3, 4 weeks verifying that it really is a trend reversal, it is not just a noise in the data, which indicates that the disease is circulating again, because hospitalization is a consequence of the number of cases in the community”, said. Bittencourt.

The São Paulo state government, however, denies the increase.

“All hospitalizations that occur in the state of São Paulo, whether in the public or private sphere, are notified to our regulatory bodies within the State Department of Health. This will happen in 645 municipalities, no municipality does otherwise, be it the hospitalizations that happen in the wards, or the hospitalizations that happen in the intensive care units. That is why we work with official figures. These official figures do not reveal what is exposed by the media, “said Jean Gorinchteyn, Secretary of State for Health. from Sao Paulo.

“We do not have this information as some press organizations have attributed it. It must be considered in other aspects: people must be aware that fatigue cannot overcome fear, people have to be afraid, fear is respect. We have to respect the sanitary norms ”, added the doctor.

Private hospitals are discharged

According to doctors, most patients arrive with a milder picture. Now, the patient’s profile involves people with higher purchasing power and classes A, B and C, who were more confined and who had not been exposed to the virus.

“On average, 8 to 10 patients have called me saying the tests are positive,” said Dr. Dante Senra, ICU coordinator and USP physician.

“We arrived a month, a month and a half ago, to deactivate one and be 50% less than the second ICU, in the process of closing the second ICU. Today, possibly, we will reopen the third ICU, “he added.

“If you ask me: has the number of cases increased, are the hospitals full? It is a fact. The hospitals are full,” said immunologist Roberto Zeballos.

“And the numbers were falling a lot, the attendance numbers. And for 3 weeks, the volume of patients has increased considerably,” added infectious disease physician Maisa Benette.

On Wednesday (11), after a temporary suspension in the process, due to the death resulting from another factor of a volunteer, the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) announced that the tests of CoronaVac, the vaccine developed by the Chinese laboratory Sinovac in the partnership with the state of São Paulo will be resumed.

The Butantan Institute, responsible for the application of doses in Brazil, said that the studies will be restarted immediately, still on Wednesday (11).

“ANVISA informs that it has just authorized the resumption of the clinical study related to the Coronavac vaccine, which is sponsored by the Butantan Institute,” the agency said in a note.

Two days ago, Anvisa had suspended the tests due to the death of one of the volunteers. According to the statement released by the agency on Wednesday, the “serious adverse event” that led to the suspension is still being investigated. Anvisa reported that “it is not revealing the nature” of what happened with respect to the privacy and integrity of the research volunteers. ”