A new survey carried out by the National Confederation of Municipalities (CNM) points out that 94% of the country’s cities recorded a high in hospital care between January 10 and 13, with many of the patients showing flu and Covid-19 symptoms.
In an interview with CNN, Nélio Aguiar, director of the CNM, said that the data obtained by the agency also show that many cities are facing difficulties due to the removal of health professionals with symptoms of the coronavirus and the H3N2 flu. “All this ends up overloading health systems,” he explained.
The scarcity of tests for the detection of diseases is another barrier to the full functioning of hospitals. Aguiar pointed out that, according to the study, 52% of municipalities have not received tests for Covid-19, and have difficulty mapping the local epidemic. Most of these cities are located in regions further away from the centers, such as in the Amazonian areas of the North region.
“It is a time when we need to make great progress in testing: flu symptoms are very similar and we need to have a differential diagnosis of what H3N2 is and what Covid-19 is,” explained Aguiar.
The CNM stated that it will present the figures obtained to the Ministry of Health, suggesting measures to combat the pandemic more effectively.
Nélio Aguiar mentioned that the extension of federal decree 10.579/2020 – which allowed city halls to use a budget granted to combat Covid-19 only until December 31, 2021 – would be useful for several municipalities. According to the director, about 41% of the municipalities still have a balance of this measure, which is currently blocked.
“It is important that there is a leadership, a national articulation led by the Ministry of Health, so that there is a perfect harmony and harmony in what is the national policy to fight Covid, and that we can walk together”, said Aguiar.
Reference: CNN Brasil
