Manaus oxygen crisis: where does the buck stop?

During the second day of his deposition to the Senate’s Covid hearings committee, former Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello repeated that his department did everything it could to assist the state of Amazonas during its deadly oxygen shortage in early January.

As community transmission of Covid-19 hit untenable levels in Amazonas at the start of the year, hospitals in state capital Manaus ran out of oxygen supplies, leading to dozens of patients dying of suffocation while awaiting treatment.

Speaking to the Covid inquiry, Mr. Pazuello claims he was not informed of the oxygen crisis until January 11, when the situation was already critical.

The former cabinet minister — who was relieved of his duties on March 15 — placed the blame on the...