Health

Rio de Janeiro, in collapse due to COVID-19 pandemic

Rio de Janeiro, May 8 (EFE), (Camera: Dhavid Miranda/Antonio Lacerda).- In Rio de Janeiro, hospitals are collapsing amidst hundreds of patients waiting for care. The harsh reality has hit the favelas, where the poorest live, as many die in the waiting line for an Intensive Care Unit. The crisis that the iconic Brazilian city has been experiencing for years is more severe amid the COVID-19 pandemic.FOOTAGE OF ALESSANDRA ROCHA, DEPUTY HEALTH COORDINATOR OF THE CITY OF RIO:TRANSLATION: "MANY PEOPLE ARE DYING IN THE SAME LINE, BECAUSE (THE DOCTORS) HAVE NO WAY OF THINKING 'I'M GOING TO LET THEM LIVE OR DIE' SINCE THEY DIDN'T EVEN GET CONSIDERED FOR A PLACE IN A ICU BED. THOSE PEOPLE ARE DYING WAITING FOR THAT SLOT. CARLOS VASCONCELLOS, SPOKESPERSON FOR THE RIVER DOCTORS' UNION:TRANSLATION: "THE SERVICES WERE OUTSOURCED, PEOPLE LOST STABILITY AND THERE WAS A LACK OF INTEREST FROM THE MOST SPECIALIZED PROFESSIONALS TO MAKE A CAREER IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR (...) THIS GENERATED A DISORGANIZATION AT THE TIME OF THE CRISIS AND THERE IS LITTLE CREDIBILITY THAT THE PEOPLE WHO ARE BEING MOBILIZED TO WORK HAVE EFFECTIVE RIGHTS SUCH AS EVEN THAT OF QUARANTINE"."THERE ARE SPEECHES BY THE PRESIDENT SAYING THAT PEOPLE SHOULD GO TO THE STREETS TO WORK BECAUSE 70 % OF THE POPULATION WOULD BE INFECTED AND THERE WOULD BE DEATH, THAT WAS NATURAL, BUT THE ECONOMY COULD NOT STOP".