Matthew, an American expat in Brazil, is surprised at how a country like Brazil is unable to address the issue in an intelligent way. Still, he has no plans to leave since a large part of his family now lives in Brazil. “I'm impressed that a number of societies (the citizens) have let their leaders get away with demonstrating a huge lack of understanding and ability to address this pandemic. Leaders are supposed to lead. That enables citizens to do their parts to address societal challenges,” he says.
As mentioned above, Brazil has a death toll of 280,000 for a population of some 212 million inhabitants. According to reports from Johns Hopkins University, the death rate is 128 per 100,000 population. At the beginning of March, this accounted for no less than 21% of the global death toll. Most surprisingly, the number of daily cases recorded each day exceeds 90,000. Last week, more than 2,000 deaths were recorded daily. On March 10, for example, 2,286 people died of COVID-19 in 24 hours!
The collapse of the health system
The Brazilian health system is struggling to cope with this unprecedented health crisis. Across the country, intensive care units are over 80% of their total capacity. In most of the country's 27 states, except two, they are at over 90% of their total capacity. According to international media reports, hospitals in Brasília, the capital city which has been the most hardly hit by the pandemic, have already reached their maximum capacity. Other cities have exceeded their maximum capacity and are unable to respond to the urgent demand. So today, health experts are worried about the "collapse of health systems".
Still, it looks like this is not the case throughout the country. Denis is a French expat who has lived in Bahia for several years. He was infected in March 2020 while he was in Rio de Janeiro. “Here in Bahia, we don't have such serious issues, except that they are trying to keep us locked down. But let's face it. Things are worse in France. According to WHO figures, the death rate per million inhabitants is much lower in Brazil than in France. Here in Brazil, we are receiving treatment from our doctors (HCQ and ivermectin). When I caught COVID-19, I was already on vitamins C and D. Today, we have the anti-Covid kit with everything you need to avoid UTI, ”he says. He adds that Bahia's health system isn't so bad as the media are depicting it. “Official figures show that a city like Bahia, with 15 million inhabitants, has only 1,141 cases of UTI".
For William, an American expat in Foz do Iguaçu, expats can't do much about what's happening. " So we must do what we can and hope for the best,” he says.
The P1 variant in Brazil
In recent weeks, Fiocruz Institute in Brazil has been reporting a new variant. This variant, called P1, originates from the city of Manaus in the Amazon and looks more contagious. It is currently present in 8 states and is spreading rapidly. According to studies, the probability of reinfection with this new variant varies between 25% and 60%.
What about Covid vaccination?
Compared to other countries, there's very little progress in the vaccination campaign in Brazil. Until recently, the Brazilian government treated the pandemic like the common flu. However, with the sharp rise in the number of Covid-19 cases, Brazil had to order a new stock of vaccines. Last week, only 4% of the population had already received their first dose. The country had already ordered some 200 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca and CoronaVac vaccines. It has just ordered 100 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which should be delivered by September. Some 38 million doses of the Janssen vaccine are also expected a little earlier. The government also negotiated for the delivery of at least 14 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine by June.
Alain, another expat in Brazil, feel relieved that the government is finally taking vaccination seriously. "Can someone explain to people why it is important for the whole world to get vaccinated against a disease that has killed 0.03% of the world population in 17 months? It would help all nations to understand what's going on. If everyone took off their mask and the doctors went back to treating as before, no one would realise that the virus still exists”, he said.
