Coronavirus

Government delivers only 17.5 percent of promised intensive care units

Government delivers only 17.5 percent of promised intensive care units
Photo: Andrea Rego Barros/FP

On April 24, the federal government delivered 300 intensive care units — which accounts for 17.5 percent of the 2,000 units it had promised to deliver in March. According to the Health Ministry, the delay is being caused by a lack of ventilators. The distribution of these intensive care units is also uneven across the country. Fifteen states, as well as the capital Brasilia, have not received any.

The two states that have the highest percentage of intensive care units occupied — Ceará (100 percent) and Amazonas (96 percent) — were also not contemplated. Despite having less than half of their units occupied, Paraná, Rio Grande do Norte, and Santa Catarina have benefitted from the government’s distribution so far.