The flood that hit Petrópolis, in the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro, and spread chaos throughout the city, with a toll of more than 100 deaths, affected the functioning of an important tool for genomic surveillance of the Covid-19 pandemic: the National Laboratory of Scientific Computing (LNCC), a federal facility, linked to the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications, which is headquartered in the city. The unit did not suffer structural damage, but is out of order, like much of the city’s service network.
LNCC is one of the few laboratories in the state of Rio de Janeiro that carry out genomic sequencing of the new coronavirus, an important work to detect eventual mutations and to know which are the dominant strains in circulation. Coordinator of the bioinformatics laboratory at LNCC, Ana Tereza Vasconcelos explains the scale of the drama.
“The LNCC was not reached, but we are without internet and the telephone operators were also affected. People who work with us have had family losses, the situation is very sad. We are closed because people have no way to get there. We are trying to help victims and families”, explains the researcher.
The LNCC is not located in the Historic Center, the area most affected by the tragedy, due to its proximity to Morro da Oficina, where there was a stronger flood, and to the Piabanha River, which rose and overflowed. In the entire state, there is genetic sequencing only in the laboratories of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), the Molecular Virology Laboratory of the UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) and the National Cancer Institute (Inca), in addition to the LNCC.
This Thursday (17), the laboratory released a statement, in which it details its position on what happened. “LNCC shares the sadness of our city of Petrópolis due to the damage caused by the heavy rains. We deeply regret the pain that our Petropolitan population is going through and we sympathize with the people and families affected, including family members of our team”.
In another section of the position, the federal agency explains the reasons that made it suspend activities at this time. “Our face-to-face activities are suspended due to the precariousness of roads and transport, and the city is in a state of calamity recognized by the municipal government”, concludes the note.
The LNCC was responsible for identifying some variants of the coronavirus that had not yet been described in the world. Former Minister of Health, federal deputy Alexandre Padilha (PT-SP) lamented the tragedy that led to the closure of the laboratory, which he considers a major detriment to the work of genomic surveillance.
“The interruption of the work of the LNCC is a loss in this war against the pandemic. We are in a great war, which leads to hundreds of thousands of deaths in our country, and the emergence of variants increasingly requires the need to carry out genetic mapping, identify variants and new risks of disease progression in Brazil and in the world. The stoppage is an important loss, especially in Rio, which receives many people from outside, with a lot of circulation and, therefore, is one of the most strategic states”, says the parliamentarian.
Celso Pansera, former Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, also highlights that the LNCC has also been home, since 2015, to the Santos Dumont Supercomputer, which had its capacity increased five times in 2019.
“This equipment has one of the greatest information processing capabilities in the southern hemisphere and is a source of pride for Brazilian science. It is capable of doing very complex modeling of systems focused on the pre-salt, planning, time and temperature analysis. And the LNCC plays an important role in research and solutions for the coronavirus. The Petrópolis situation creates a new issue, because it makes the temporary operation of the LNCC and Santos Dumont unfeasible and, therefore, the rescue work and return to normality is important. For the population and for science”, explains the former federal deputy.
In an extra edition of the state’s “Official Gazette”, this Thursday, governor Cláudio Castro (PL) approved the municipal decree, by Mayor Rubens Bomtempo (PSB), which declared a state of calamity in the municipality. So far, the Legislative Assembly of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Alerj) and the Rio de Janeiro bench of the National Congress have allocated, together, R$ 79 million for the recovery of the city. The first, as a donation from the special fund, and the second, in the condition of bench amendments.
Source: CNN Brasil
