Brazilians die waiting for a bed ICU 3:15
Sao Paulo (CNN) -
More than 45,000 people have died in Brazil from the pandemic in the past month, but President Jair Bolsonaro says there is a personal "war" against them.
In the coastal city of Rio de Janeiro, intensive care units are 95% full.
Similarly, another fifteen state capitals are on the brink of collapse, with an intensive care unit occupancy of more than 90%, an avalanche of hospitalizations that has accompanied a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases in the country.
While cases are beginning to stabilize or decline in many countries, Brazil reports record daily numbers.
Just on Wednesday, the country experienced its largest daily increase in cases since the start of the pandemic: 90,303 new cases.
"Here it became a war against the president.
It seems that people only die of covid, "Bolsonaro, without a mask, told his supporters outside the presidential palace on Thursday.
“Hospitals are 90% occupied.
But we need to know how many are from covid and how many are from other diseases, "he said.
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Many Brazilian state health departments show data on both the capacity of ICUs dedicated to covid-19 and other diseases.
On Thursday, Brazil's Health Ministry reported that 2,724 more people had died from the virus that day, bringing the total to 287,499.
These figures make Brazil the second most affected country in the world in terms of cases and deaths, after the United States.
Bolsonaro, who has long downplayed the severity of the pandemic, also said Thursday that he regrets the deaths in the country but questioned the effectiveness of lockdown measures, which he has resisted imposing.
“Of course, we want a solution and we regret any deaths, but why did the lockdown exist?
They are seeing the population unemployed.
Show me a country where the fight against covid is working, ”said Bolsonaro.
MORE: Brazil plunges into crisis due to covid-19: a second wave and a new deadly variant overwhelm hospitals
As cases mount, the Brazilian president faces harsh criticism from citizens, potential political rivals and local officials across the country, many of whom have demanded that Bolsonaro step up federal action.
Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who does not rule out running for office again in 2022, criticized the current administration's response to the pandemic, saying Thursday that "there is no control in Brazil."
Over the weekend, in a joint letter, the country's governors asked the president to restrict the operation of airports, ports, highways and railroads, among other measures.
Many have already imposed local containment measures.
Restrictions in Brazil at the worst moment of the 1:13 pandemic
The National Front of Mayors (FNP) also sent a letter to the president and the Health Ministry on Thursday calling for "immediate action" to address critical shortages of supplies and medicines, including oxygen and sedatives.
“It is not reasonable that people, Brazilian citizens, are driven to such desperate death by 'drowning in the desert' or that they have to be tied down and kept conscious during the delicate and painful intubation process and for as long as it keeps people intubated, ”the letter says.
Brazil's Federal Council of Pharmacy (CFF) says the current spate of COVID-19 cases raises "extreme concern," as there is also evidence of a shortage of neuromuscular blockers and other drugs used in intensive care, such as midazolam, essential for safe and humane intubation.
The Council of Health Secretaries has confirmed to CNN that those drugs are at a critical level and could run out in 20 days.
Journalist Marcia Reverdosa reported from Sao Paulo and CNN's Radina Gigova from Atlanta. Rodrigo Pedroso and Caitlin Hu contributed to this story.
Jair Bolsonaro Pandemic
