The extraordinary edition of the Fiocruz Covid-19 Observatory Report released last Wednesday (August 11) higlights that since October 2020 this is the first time there are no states in Brazil with 80% or more of their ICU hospital beds for adults occupied by Covid-19 patients. In addition, when compared with October last year, Brazil has the smallest number of states (five) in the intermediary alert zone (between 60% and 80% of ICU beds occupied by Covid-19 patients); two of them due to a reduction in Covid-19 beds, which has been occurring in other places. The figures, obtained on August 9, indicate that this is the best scenario since the Observatory began following up this index, in July 2020.

The states of Mato Grosso and Goiás reported the highest occupation rates, with 79% and 78% of ICU beds for adults destined to Covid-19 occupied, respectively. On the other hand, 14 states presented occupation rates below 50%. In the last two weeks, the state of Rio de Janeiro presented an increase in these figures, with an occupation rate of 67%. Rio de Janeiro (97%) and Goiânia (92%) are the most worrying capital cities, having been maintaining very critical occupation rates for weeks now. 

Researchers of the Observatory, in charge of the Report, emphasize that this result is a reflection of the benefits of vaccination. “Considering that transmission rates, cases and deaths are still high, vaccination must be expanded and accelerated, and combined with the use of masks and physical distancing, to maintain and improve results”, they state.

The analysis emphasizes that this scenario of improvement in occupation rates in hospitals takes place right as there is a significant drop in the number of beds available for Covid-19 patients in the Federal District and in many states. That is, in spite of the smaller number of beds available, occupation rates are still falling”, explain the scientists. 

The analysis also observed that the number of deaths by Covid-19 dropped by 1.1% when compared with the previous week. At the same time, the rate of new cases dropped by 0.8% per day. This gap between the speed of reduction in mortality and the reduction in the incidence of cases is attributed to vaccination, as the infection is now having less impact on hospital stays and deaths. As a consequence, the study observed a small reduction in lethality, which now corresponds to 2.7%.

Alert

The new edition of the Report brings, once again, the warning that it is crucial to expand vaccination, combining it with surveillance in health, diffuse use of masks, and measures of physical and social distancing. It reinforces the importance of full vaccination as the best protection available against severe Covid-19 and death by the disease, including those caused by the Delta variant.

Source: Fiocruz News Agency (AFN, acronym in portuguese).