Brazil's Amazonas sends COVID-19 patients to other states as hospitals buckle

Brazil's northern state of Amazonas moved to send 235 patients hospitalised for COVID-19 to other states as its healthcare system was stretched to the limit, Governor Wilson Lima said Thursday.

Hospitals in state capital Manaus are crowded and lack the oxygen needed to treat infected patients, he said.

According to the Brazilian Health Ministry, Manaus had accounted for 91,461 of the 219,544 cases and 3,856 of the 5,879 deaths in Amazonas as of Wednesday.

Overwhelmed hospitals led to four consecutive days of record-high fatalities from COVID-19, with 144, 150, 166 and 198 burials per day from Sunday to Wednesday, respectively, according to official data.

Colonel Franco Duarte, a representative of the Health Ministry, said patients considered to be moderately ill would be transferred out of state.

Brazil has reported 8,324,294 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 207,095 deaths as of Thursday. (/Xinhua)

( With inputs from ANI )