Teich says that comparing Covid deaths in other countries, Brazil performs well | National newspaper

The countries used as reference have already passed the acute phase of the epidemic. It was Teich’s first interview since he took office last week.

Nelson Teich began on Wednesday (22) at a meeting at the Planalto Palace with President Jair Bolsonaro and the government team.

In the late afternoon he returned to Planalto to participate in the press conference with four other ministers and the governor of the Federal District. He repeated points of the opening speech. He went on to say that information is essential for decision-making and that little is known about the disease.

“Regarding information, one of the problems we have with the current situation in Covid-19 is because we know very little about the disease. And when you know very little, your power to decide in a more structured and solid way is small. And you’re going to have to make decisions. But that is fragile. Because you don’t know exactly what you’re dealing with, “he said.

Teich said one of the biggest problems is the distribution of equipment and materials, such as testing, for example. He confirmed the name of Eduardo Pazuello as the new executive secretary of Health and said that the general experience in logistics will be essential.

“In these few days that I am here, the impression I have is that we have to be much more efficient than we are today. We are talking about purchasing, distribution logistics, and he is a very experienced person in this, he is a person who comes to make a contribution when we run against time, not only against time in relation to Covid, but in relation to how it is going to be the country, how will the health system be. This is literally a race against time, it’s true. ”

Then, Nelson Teich made a comparison between Brazil, where cases are increasing more and more, and experts estimate a large underreporting, with other countries in totally different situations, such as Germany, which did more tests than Brazil. Here, the disease started after these countries and has not yet peaked.

“Brazil today is one of the best performing countries in relation to Covid, okay? We have here, if you analyze the deaths per million people, the number in Brazil is 8.17. Germany is 15 years old, Italy 135, Spain 255, United Kingdom 90, United States 29. Our number is one of the best, “he said.

According to data from the Ministry of Health itself, mortality in Brazil is different from that presented by the minister: 13.75 per million inhabitants and not 8.17 as Teich said. Germany, according to the World Health Organization, has 58.2 deaths per million inhabitants and not 15, as the minister said.

The new Minister of Health announced that he is preparing guidelines for states and municipalities to define policies to overcome social isolation. That was the main difference between President Bolsonaro and former Minister Mandetta.

Teich said he does not believe the relaxation of the measures will trigger an increase in cases in the country.

“Authorization is a natural and logical measure in the beginning. But it cannot be without an exit program. That is what we are going to draw. What we have to understand is this: There is no magic formula. And the solutions are often neither good nor bad. They are well used or misused. So what we have to do is use wisely what we have at hand. Let me give you an example: we are talking about mass testing. There is no proof of mass. If you imagine South Korea, which is a benchmark, they did 11,000 tests for 1 million people. This is not a population test. This is not a massive test. What you should do, when you use the test, is to map the population in such a way, this is already being done, this is already happening, so that your sample reflects the population, “said the minister.

These guidelines will be out next week. Once again, there were no interviews with technicians from the Ministry of Health, with information on government activities.

On Wednesday (22), the minister only reported that he is sending respirators, he did not say how many, for four states, nor did he give details about the plan to expand the tests he announced on Monday (20). I just said that the technical interviews will return next week, in a new format.

Jornal Nacional questioned the Ministry of Health about the comparison made by Minister Teich on the number of deaths in Brazil and in countries where the disease has peaked. The staff responded by reinforcing that the average mortality rate in other countries is higher than that of Brazil and said that Nelson Teich is creating new criteria for a more realistic evaluation of the dynamics of the disease in Brazil.