Deadliest month in history: – – We have the worst booked

March is the deadliest month since the pandemic began in Brazil, with 66,573 registered corona deaths.

The country’s hospitals have been pushed to the limit due to the new wave of serious infection cases, and doctors are now forced to choose which patients to give life-saving help to.

The situation in the country is an example of the consequences that a lack of strict infection control measures, similar to the ones we have in Norway, can lead to, says deputy health director Espen Rostrup Nakstad at the Norwegian Health Directorate.

– In countries that have few measures, such as Brazil and the United States, there are enormous consequences if the pandemic breaks out. In Brazil, for example, we saw yesterday that the health service is about to fully kneel, Nakstad tells Dagbladet.

– It would not have done it if one had had infection control measures and managed to keep the infection low. Then much larger parts of society could function normally, he continues.

– The worst is yet to come

The grim record number of deaths in March in Brazil is more than double what has so far been the country’s deadliest month, which was July last year, when authorities recorded 32,881 crown-related deaths.

“Never in the history of the country have we seen a single incident that killed so many people in a single month,” says Dr. Miguel Nicolelis, who has been the coordinator of pandemic preparedness in the northeastern part of the country.

In total, the country has recorded 321,515 crown-related deaths since the pandemic began, the Health Ministry claims, NTB writes.

“We are in the worst place in the pandemic and there are signs that April will also be very bad,” epidemiologist Ethel Maciel of the Brazilian University Espírito Santo told AFP.

– The worst is yet to come, she says.

The doctor and coordinator of the pandemic Miguel Nicolelis points out that winter is now approaching in the southern hemisphere and that the virus is spreading rapidly.

Brazil faces the perfect storm, he says.

– This is not a threat only for Brazil, but for the whole world, he says.

– The greatest genocide in our history

Consequences

In Norway, we have had some strict national and / or local measures more or less since March last year.

The measures have affected parts of the business community through several extensive shutdowns, and the consequences of this are again that several companies have had to lay off or lay off employees.

Nakstad emphasizes to Dagbladet that he is not the right person to answer questions related to the economic consequences of the measures introduced in Norway. That is what politicians have to answer, he explains. But he says:

– I think you have to look at a pandemic that affects everyone, as a crisis that affects everyone. It is the effects of the pandemic on society that are lasting, and not these measures themselves, although they affect when they work.

He continues:

– What we know is that the countries that manage to keep the infection under control with measures – for example the measures that are now in Oslo and Viken and elsewhere – those countries have the least impact on the economy, and have a health system and an educational system that works more normally than in other countries.

– The paradox

Nakstad says this is the “paradox of a pandemic”:

– The measures are unpopular. The fact that we have to limit the number of people we are in contact with, for example, is very unpopular, but the consequences of not doing so are far greater.

– In a way, this is the dilemma, and it means that political authorities around the world, both locally and nationally, have a great challenge in a pandemic, since unpopular measures have to be introduced because it is known than the consequences of making it much bigger, says Nakstad.

You can stop the man choking Brazil

– Psychopathic leader

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his government have been criticized for being reluctant to shut down the country.

Last year, several cities and states imposed strict restrictions on their own initiative, provoking the president.

On Sunday, March 21, he again attacked measures against the coronavirus, on the occasion of his 66th birthday.

He snorted at the advice of experts on social distancing and wearing masks to curb the pandemic, although he has recently taken a somewhat more pragmatic stance as a result of the dramatic development of the virus in the country.

However, their handling and movements have not gone unnoticed within the country’s borders. Governor Joao Doria of the largest city in Brazil and South America, São Paulo, recently called Bolsonaro a “psychopathic leader.”

– We are in one of the most tragic moments in history. Millions of people pay a high price for having a psycho person in charge right now, he said.

Emergency approval

Brazil is also struggling to secure enough vaccines for its 212 million inhabitants. Earlier today, it was announced that Brazil granted emergency approval for Johnson & Johnson’s corona vaccine. It is the fourth vaccine approved in the worst affected country, according to NTB.

The Norwegian Medicines Agency Anvisa unanimously approved the emergency approval. The approval applies to priority groups such as healthcare professionals and the elderly.

Brazil signed an agreement with the US pharmaceutical giant two weeks ago for the delivery of 38 million vaccines. Delivery won’t start until August.

Only one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is needed, as opposed to two doses of the other corona vaccines.

Brazil has already signed an agreement with Pfizer for the delivery of 100 million doses, that is, vaccines for 50 million people. Delivery of these vaccines is expected to begin late April through May.