Second wave of the pandemic recovers rows for the burial of Covid victims in Manaus | National newspaper

Only on Monday (28), 38 people were buried in a cemetery in Manaus. Outside, the hearses were busy. And relatives, who for security reasons, cannot enter. Since the start of the pandemic, a maximum of three people have been able to accompany the burial of those who die from Covid. In the case of death from another disease, the number increases to five.

Doña Matilde and her nephews watched the funeral of a relative on their cell phone.

To prevent the spread of the virus, the cemetery limited the burial area of ​​Covid-19. On the one hand there are suspected cases, while on the other and at the bottom are confirmed cases of deaths from the disease.

According to the Manaus city council, the average burial has increased since September, with the relaxation of isolation measures. From 30, he jumped to about 45 daily burials.

The solitary burial contrasts with the clandestine parties that take place in the capital of Amazonas, with agglomeration and dissemination of false information about the end of the pandemic. Amazonas, especially Manaus, is experiencing a further increase in Covid cases. According to the government, of the 11 private hospitals in the capital, seven have 100% of the beds for the disease occupied. Public hospitals, on the other hand, have a bed occupancy rate of over 90%.

The State Department of Health said it has started a new stage to face the disease. “It represents the use of the network that all beds of the public network will be destined to combat and confront the Covid,” said Marcellus Campelo, Secretary of Health.

On Saturday (26), the state government, by decree, closed non-essential activities for 15 days. The merchants protested and the government backed down. It allowed the trade to reopen this Monday (28) with restricted hours. The bars remain closed.

Amazonas already has more than 196 thousand cases of the disease and more than 5,000 deaths.

Jesem Orellana, an epidemiologist at Fiocruz, warns that Manaus can relive scenes that shocked the world between April and May, when the city went through the peak of the pandemic, with collective burials and people dying at home due to lack of places in hospitals.

“This has a very objective practical implication, it will not be able to reduce the number of critically ill patients requiring hospitalization, it will not be able to reduce the demand of patients for ICU beds, which means more illnesses and deaths that could be mitigated with those restrictive measures that could be in force from the 26th, ”he says.