NGO, research center to offer hospital beds for Covid-19 in Brazil

The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) research center and the Red Cross are offering extra hospital beds in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, the states with the most Covid-19 cases in the country, in an attempt to increase Brazil’s capacity to deal with the pandemic. 

In Rio de Janeiro, Fiocruz will supply 200 new hospital beds, half in its unit in the poor suburb of Manguinhos, and they will be ready by the end of the month. Fiocruz is also leading trial studies in an attempt to find a cure, as well as running Covid-19 testing — the goal is to increase production to 1 million tests per month. 

The Red Cross Hospital in São Paulo offered 50 beds to receive people infected with Covid-19 during the pandemic. The facility may also be used to build a field hospital that can accommodate a further 100 people, according to the hospital’s administration. The extra beds may bring much-needed help to both states. São Paulo has the highest number of confirmed cases and deaths in Brazil, and it is followed by Rio de Janeiro. As of April 7, São Paulo registered 304 deaths, while Rio de Janeiro had 71. Both states were considered a concern by the Ministry of Health, which said the areas may be heading to the “uncontrolled acceleration” of the disease in a report.

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