Health systems in most of Brazil's largest cities are close to collapse due to Covid-19 cases, a report by the country's Fiocruz institute warns.
A health worker cares for a Covid-19 patient at an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Ronaldo Gazolla Public Municipal Hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo: AFP or licensors
The Rio de Janeiro-based institute said more than 80 percent of intensive care unit (ICU) beds were occupied in the capitals of 25 of Brazil's 27 states.
On Tuesday the country recorded 1972 Covid-19 deaths, a new daily record.
Brazil has recorded more than 266,000 deaths and 11 million cases since the pandemic began.
It has the second highest number of deaths in the world after the US and the third highest number of confirmed cases.
According to Fiocruz, 15 state capitals have ICUs that are at more than 90% percent capacity including Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia and São Paulo.
Two cities - Porto Alegre and Campo Grande - have exceeded ICU capacity.
In its report it warned that figures pointed to the "overload and even collapse of health systems".
"Researchers reinforce the need to expand and strengthen measures involving physical and social distance, wearing masks and cleaning hands," it added.
Last week experts told Valor Economic newspaper that deaths would soon surpass 2000 a day. They warned that the only way to avoid this was if the federal government took over national coordination of the fight against the virus, recommending lockdowns, the use of masks and a mass vaccination drive.
More than eight million people have had their first vaccination dose so far, representing just over 4 percent of the population.
On Tuesday, the country also recorded more than 70,000 cases, a 38 percent increase on last week, according to local media. The recent rise has been attributed to the spread of a highly contagious variant of the virus thought to have originated in the Amazon city of Manaus.
Despite this, President Jair Bolsonaro has continued to downplay the threat posed by the virus.
Earlier this week he told people to "stop whining". Speaking at an event, he said: "How long are you going to keep crying about it? How much longer will you stay at home and close everything? No-one can stand it anymore. We regret the deaths, again, but we need a solution."
Some quarantine measures have been taken by regional governors, which Bolsonaro has opposed, arguing that the collateral damage to the economy will be worse than the effects of the virus itself.
- BBC
