Covid cases triple between Monday (10) and Friday (14)

The number of Covid-19 cases in Brazil registered and released by the Ministry of Health this Friday (14) is more than triple what was recorded on Monday (10). The 112,286 new positive diagnoses reported this Friday correspond to an increase of 222.8% in relation to what was computed on Monday (34,788).

It is important to point out that, in general, the numbers of new cases are usually lower on Mondays due to the delay in notifications during the weekend by the health secretariats.

The increase in the amount of new contamination is considered by experts as a consequence of the spread of the Ômicron variant of the coronavirus in the country. The new strain is said to be more contagious. In contrast, the World Health Organization (WHO) says it has evidence that Ômicron causes milder symptoms than previous variations of the virus.

Regarding deaths, there was also an increase between the beginning and the end of the week, from 110 to 251 deaths in 24 hours. Although the number has more than doubled in a few days, the amount is still well below what was recorded during the peak of the pandemic in 2021, when the total number of new deaths reached more than 3,000 deaths associated with the virus in one day. .

On Monday, the country recorded a moving average of 34,788 Covid-19 cases – the highest number since July 29, 2021.

On Thursday (14), during a press conference, the Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, acknowledged that the country may be facing a third wave of Covid-19. For this reason, he stated that the federal government is able to double the number of intensive care beds to support the increased demand from patients with the disease, if necessary.

Throughout the week, several Brazilian capitals registered an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) occupancy rate of more than 60%, according to a survey carried out by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz).

Queiroga stated that this is due to the deactivation of beds and not necessarily due to pressure on the health system, as occurred between March and April 2021. “It does not mean that there is a greater number of hospitalizations. Sometimes it’s because the number of beds got smaller due to the deactivation”, he commented.

As a result of the new increase in the number of contaminations, at least eight states have already announced the return of restrictions against Covid. Among the measures are the decrease in maximum capacity at events and commercial establishments and the cancellation of Carnival.

For experts, the fact that the number of deaths is not rising as much as the number of new cases is linked to vaccination. “The main factor is the vaccine. We had vaccination coverage in Brazil with more than 65% of people with two doses. This definitely represented protection for the severe form of the disease and for deaths”, he told the CNN the infectious disease physician Álvaro Furtado, from the Hospital das Clínicas of the University of São Paulo (USP).