According to Brazilian media on April 7th, the national committee composed of health departments across the country released the latest survey on Tuesday (April 6).
The health institutions in at least 1,068 of the 2,411 cities surveyed said that hospitals were used for COVID-19. The inventory of oxygen cylinders for the treatment of severe inflammatory patients is worried, and pointed out that if the relevant severe cases continue to rise and oxygen manufacturers have difficulties in supplying, medical institutions in these cities will face the risk of oxygen outages.
The commission’s investigation began at the end of March this year. The report pointed out that many parts of Brazil have insufficient medical supplies for COVID-19, which may cause the consequences of “paralysis” the medical system.
Of the cities surveyed, 87% of the cities believe that medical oxygen cylinders are the most important medical resources, and this resource is currently facing the greatest difficulties in supply. According to statistics, out of 2,411 cities surveyed, 1,068 cities are expected to have at least one medical institution in each city facing a shortage of oxygen within the next 10 days.
In the face of this serious situation, the Brazilian Ministry of Health has recently taken emergency measures, such as the distribution of additional medical oxygen cylinders to various places, which has also eased the shortage of oxygen supply.
The Brazilian Joint Commission on Municipal Health, Executive Secretary Moro, noted that while the measures have helped to avoid further deterioration of the current situation, the situation is still not optimistic because the number of confirmed patients is increasing.
