More Brazilian states facing collapse under Covid-19 pressure

On Saturday, news website UOL published a series of shocking videos sent in by residents of the city of Manaus, the northern urban expanse with a population of 2 million, slap bang in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. The footage showed desperation at public hospitals around the city, with a lack of beds and, most notably, medical professionals. The Covid-19 pandemic has already driven the city’s healthcare system to complete collapse.

On Saturday evening, the head director of the São Raimundo accident and emergency facility — featured in more than one of the videos sent to UOL — died from Covid-19. It is estimated that 1,000 health professionals in the northern state of Amazonas, of which Manaus is the capital, are on leave from work due to contracting the virus.

Manaus was the first Brazilian city to experience the scenes we had seen around Europe and the U.S., of overflowing hospitals, doctors having to deny people care, and mounting piles of cadavers. However, it will not be the last.

Reason for concern in North and Northeast

In the northeastern state of Ceará, there are...