The mayor of São Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, warned Sunday that its health care system is on the brink of collapse as the country sees a new surge in coronavirus cases.
“The city is coming to the limit of options,” Mayor Bruno Covas told reporters, according to CNN. “We need to decide if we want to test the limits, or if we will be prudent and firmly maintain social isolation for the time needed so that the health system doesn’t collapse. We are closer than we would like.”
Mr. Covas warned that the hospitals in São Paulo have reached 90% capacity and could run out of beds in the next two weeks.
Brazil has emerged as South America’s epicenter for COVID-19 and has reported 243,968 confirmed cases — the fourth-highest total in the world. The country, which has a population of nearly 210 million, has reported 16,196 deaths and 94,122 recoveries but experts say the true numbers are likely much higher due to a lack of testing resources.
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.