Army planning to set up field hospitals in São Paulo

With the vast majority of Brazil’s confirmed Covid-19 cases—and all deaths so far—located in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the Army is exploring ways to increase the number of available beds for the massive influx of patients both cities are expecting.

Temporary field hospitals, such as those used on battlefields to tend to combat casualties, are the solution in mind. In São Paulo, the vast Ibirapuera Park, to the south of the city center, is the location most touted by Army officials.

Elsewhere, Brazilian authorities have “floated” the idea of using ships to help isolate and treat Covid-19 cases among low-income populations in coastal areas. The fear is that the sanitary conditions in many poorer neighborhoods are not satisfactory, and quarantine would be ineffective.

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