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The state of São Paulo again broke the daily record of deaths from covid-19 today. Amid the worst moment of the pandemic, 521 deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours. Three days ago, last Tuesday (9), São Paulo registered the previous record, with 517 deaths.
According to data from the state Department of Health, São Paulo reached 63,531 people infected with the coronavirus. In the last 24 hours alone, the state registered 15,720 new covid-19 diagnoses. Since the start of the pandemic, 2,179,786 people have been infected.
With the transmission of the virus on the rise, the pressure on the healthcare system is increasing. The ICU bed occupancy rate is 87.6% in the state and in the Greater São Paulo region, already reaching 89.4%.
In addition to the record of daily deaths, the number of patients admitted to the ICU in the state also represents a new record. Currently, there are 9,777 in intensive care beds and another 12,778 in wards, totaling 22,555 in recovery from covid-19 in the state.
The negative mark of deaths is the third only in the month of March. Before the state recorded 468 deaths, the last day 2 had been the previous record in the first wave of the disease, on August 13, 2020.
While today’s number indicates that the pandemic continues to worsen in São Paulo, the sum of the deaths does not necessarily mean that they occurred in the last 24 hours. The mark reflects when the data was entered into the system that accounts for the pandemic numbers.
More deaths than all of Italy
On the day that Italy defined a new confinement for 11 of the 20 regions of the country due to the worsening of the pandemic, the European nation was still far from the daily deaths registered in São Paulo. According to today’s data, 380 new deaths have been confirmed in the last 24 hours.
Mario Draghi, Prime Minister of Italy, acknowledged that the country is facing a “new wave” of coronavirus infections. Today alone, 26,824 new confirmed cases of covid-19 were registered.
Emergency phase, more beds and suspended classes
In São Paulo, without achieving a result that avoids hospital collapse, since half of the cities in the state with ICU beds have already reached 100% occupancy – until yesterday, the waiting list for an intensive care bed in the state was 1,065 patients -, the government of São Paulo announced more restrictions as of Monday (15). Before the announcement of the new emergency phase, the entire state was already in the red phase of the São Paulo Plan since last Saturday (6), the most restrictive so far.
Governor João Doria (PSDB) decided that the operation of only essential activities was not enough to stop the spread of the virus and guarantee adequate service to the population. For this reason, São Paulo will have, among other measures, a curfew from 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m., public schools in recess -without classroom activities-, soccer and suspended collective religious ceremonies and public transport hours. In addition, bars and restaurants can only operate on the delivery system, without face-to-face withdrawals.
Although the rate of contamination and new hospitalizations does not decrease, the solution has been to create new beds. In recent weeks, Doria’s management has promised to open 1,118 ICU and ward vacancies by the end of the month.
Today, the mayor of the capital, Bruno Covas (PSDB), followed the same path and announced the opening of 555 new ICU and nursing beds in the city for covid-19. In addition, Covas also ordered the suspension of face-to-face classes in the city from next Wednesday (17) until April 1.
* With information from AFP
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