Virus crisis ravages Brazilian Amazon city’s health system

April 27, 2020 Bernie Kilkelly Edge Newsroom 0

Relatives mourn at the site of a mass burial at the Nossa Senhora Aparecida cemetery, in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil
Relatives mourn at the site of a mass burial at the Nossa Senhora Aparecida cemetery, in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil, on Tuesday. The cemetery is carrying out burials in common graves due to the large number of deaths from COVID-19 disease, according to a cemetery official. Edmar Barros/AP
Bernie Kilkelly reports from The Edge Newsroom

The health care system in the Brazilian Amazon city of Manaus was already strained before the coronavirus pandemic.

Now it is buckling under an onslaught of COVID-19 patients. Ventilators are in critically short supply, doctors bemoan a lack of protective gear, and gravediggers are increasingly overwhelmed.

The concern is that Manaus could provide a grim glimpse of what lies ahead for Brazil, particularly as President Jair Bolsonaro flouts recommendations for people to stay home, and instead tells people to get back to work.

In cities like Manaus, lack of compliance with social distancing measures is pushing the health care system to a breaking point.

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