The daily average of burials is tripled in Manaus, and the city council opens mass graves in public cemeteries | National newspaper

And despite that, there are still those who have not been convinced of the danger posed by this pandemic. For this reason, the edition of the National Journal on Tuesday (21) begins with what is happening in the state capital of Amazonas, where the daily average of burials has tripled.

Tarumã Cemetery, Western Manaus Zone. Seven coffins were placed next to each other in a mass grave. In them there are people killed by Covid-19. A tractor dumps dirt and covers the coffins. The burial ends.

Now, burials in public cemeteries in Manaus are collective, even for people who have not died from the disease. According to the city, the measure is to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus and also due to the increase in death records.

Student Any Souza was unable to attend the funeral of her uncle, who died a natural death. But relatives recorded the ceremony.

“The information we received was that those who died from viruses entered only three people. If it were natural death, only five people. A chaotic situation in the cemetery … They are digging ditches and laying coffins. They hope to accumulate five coffins until they bury and throw the clay on top, ”Any says.

At the start of the pandemic, the cemetery even separated an exclusive area to bury dead people in Covid-19, with shallow pits close to each other. But now, lines of ears wait their turn every day to bury the bodies, which are expected in cold rooms due to overcrowding.

“My father had no way of seeing his own wife, who lived for years and years with him. This is a pain for any family,” says freelancer Kelzia da Mata.

According to the city, the average burial in Manaus is 30 a day. But in the last week it increased to around 80, reaching more than a hundred on Sunday (19). The city said growth was recorded with the start of the pandemic.

PSDB Mayor Arthur Virgílio opened a crisis office to deal with this increase and said the funeral system is also collapsing.

“We opened the crisis office because we saw a global crisis and the funeral chaos is there. It is also the bankruptcy of the service system, thanks to the weakening that has occurred and that seems to be a process of difficult irreversibility,” says Mayor.

The situation in Manaus hospitals is also on the limit. Across the state, there are 2,270 cases of Covid-19 and 193 deaths. But the state government itself has already admitted that there is underreporting. The government said on Tuesday (21) that 96% of ICU beds in public hospitals in the capital are occupied by patients with coronavirus or suspected of having the disease.