By Eduardo Campos Lima
SÃO PAULO (Crux) – A devastating second wave of COVID-19 in Amazonas State has caused the healthcare system to collapse and raised the mortality rate in the region to 190 deaths per 100,000 people, the highest one in Brazil. The state had at least 266,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 8,000 deaths.
The surge began just after Christmas and has been growing since then. A new strain of the coronavirus was identified in the state’s capital city, Manaus, and is thought to now be the dominant one in the area.
The lack of hospital beds led the state to transfer patients to other regions of the country. According to Deacon Afonso Brito, executive-secretary of Caritas Manaus, there are at least 600 people in the city waiting for a hospital bed.
Link to full report:
Brazil’s Amazon Region Hit Hard by COVID Second Wave
Photo: CNS/Amanda Perobelli, Reuters