The Hospital do Coração (HCor), in São Paulo, recorded, last Tuesday (4), the largest number of visits in the history of its emergency room. In total, 388 patients were seen, of which 252 had flu-like illness.
The Ômicron variant of Covid-19 is the main responsible for this dizzying increase, and it surpassed the prevalence established in December by the H3N2 strain of the influenza virus.
HCor’s staff explained to CNN, on Thursday (6), there was an inversion in the hospital’s epidemiological profile.
“On December 22, the scenario pointed to Influenza H3N2 as responsible for about 40% of the cases, while Covid-19 remained below 10%,” he said in a statement.
“Now, the Covid-19 index is above 40%, whereas the Influenza H3N2 is varying from 8% to 13% in the collections of the last 3 days”, he added.
This increase in the number of people with the flu syndrome going to the emergency room has been steady.
On Wednesday, December 29, the HCor treated 153 people with this picture of symptoms. A week later, on this Wednesday (5), the number of calls was 252.
Regarding hospitalizations for Covid-19, the jump between these same two dates was 275%. HCor had eight people hospitalized with coronavirus infection on December 29th. This Wednesday (5), the number was already 22 people.
Queues and capacity at hospitals in São Paulo
In the last seven days, the city of São Paulo registered a 30% increase in cases of Covid-19, according to the municipal secretary of Health, Edson Aparecido. This, together with the flurry of patients with flu, led to the filling of several hospitals in the capital.
This Wednesday (5), in the waiting room of the emergency room at AMA Sorocabana, located in Lapa, west of São Paulo, there were not enough chairs for patients, who were crowding around waiting for medical care. Many reported to the report of CNN who had been there for at least five hours.
Among them is Gabriel, who tested positive for Covid-19, but stayed in the same environment as everyone else, waiting to be seen by a doctor.
“I’m fine, but I tested positive and it’s all mixed up,” he said.
In another Emergency Care Unit, in Vila Mariana, the place was also full, as was the Santa Casa, downtown.
At Hospital Ipiranga, south side, professionals reported that patients were aggressive, because of the long waiting lines, according to the Union of Public Health Workers of the State.
According to SindSaúde-SP, for every 100 files, at least 80 are from patients who have flu-like symptoms. Only this Wednesday (5), until 5 pm, nearly 200 calls were made.
In addition to the delay in medical care, patients often have to wait between 8 and 10 hours, due to waiting for test results and the return to the doctor.
Increased cases of flu and Covid
The municipal health department attributes the increase in demand for care and waiting time at health facilities to the increase in cases of flu and Covid-19.
Until January 5th, 44,465 consultations were carried out for people with respiratory symptoms, with 25,019 suspects of Covid-19. In total, 1,557 cases have been confirmed for Covid-19.
The municipal secretary of Health, Edson Aparecido, said on Wednesday that the waiting time in public health units could increase in the coming weeks, due to the double testing. The city is running tests for Covid and influenza as a measure to try to control the disease.
* With information from Adriana De Luca, Giovanna Bronze, Denise Ribeiro from CNN
Reference: CNN Brasil
