The queue for beds with respirators in Rio already has 230 people | Rio de Janeiro

With this, the agony of those trying to get a place in a public hospital only increases the suffering of Covid-19 patients and their families.

This is the case of the elderly Wilson da Silva Araújo, 90, who fights for life waiting for a bed. He has been hospitalized with the new coronavirus and pneumonia since Monday (20), at the Albert Schweitzer Hospital, in Realengo, in the West Zone of Rio, and needs to go to the ICU, which has no vacancies.

“What the doctor informed us is that there are no vacancies available at the hospital and that they are trying to transfer to another hospital,” said another relative.

In the capital’s public network, more than 90% of ICU beds are occupied. On Thursday (23), there were 220 patients online. This Friday (24), the number increased to 230 people who need a respirator.

According to the State Department of Health, the only hospital that can still receive patients is Zilda Arns, in Volta Redonda, in the south of the state, 120 km from Rio.

There, more than half of the nursing and ICU beds are occupied, and only 35 places remain.

At the Marechal Hermes UPA, a patient’s brother asked for help.

At CER Barra, the line is also long and the unit is full. In the waiting room, patients had been waiting more than four hours for an appointment, all with suspected coronavirus.