By NewsDesk  @infectiousdiseasenews

The Brazil Ministry of Health is now reporting 115,953 COVID-19 cases, including 7958 deaths. The coronavirus is present in all states of the country. Currently, São Paulo concentrates most of the notifications, with 34,053 cases and 2,851 deaths. Rio de Janeiro appears in second place, with 12,391 cases and 1,123 deaths. The state with the least number of notifications is Mato Grosso do Sul, with 283 case confirmations and 10 deaths. Tocantins now has 303 cases and seven deaths.

More than 48,000 cases have recovered, approximately 40 percent of the total, and an additional 1,579 deaths remain under investigation.

On Monday, the Minister of Health, Nelson Teich visited hospitals in the capital Manaus (AM) and met with local authorities to closely monitor the actions taken in the fight against COVID-19. Since the beginning of the pandemic in Brazil, the Ministry of Health has allocated R $ 68.8 million to the state to strengthen the hospital and surveillance network, in addition to the sending of 1.5 million Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and 90 respirators. The state of Amazonas has 7,242 cases and 584 deaths, registering one of the highest incidence rates in the country.

The Ministry of Health also distributed about 1.5 million Personal Protective Equipment to the state of Amazonas, with 88,803 disposable aprons, 455,048 gloves, 79,800 N95 masks, 488,800 surgical masks, 1,340 goggles, 4,500 sneakers and 337,500 disposable caps , in addition to more than 15 thousand liters of ethyl alcohol.

To strengthen the state’s health system, the Ministry of Health has also enabled 184 adult and pediatric ICU beds, in five hospitals in Manaus, to exclusively serve critically ill or critically ill patients with COVID-19. They are: Chapot Prevost Hospital and Maternity Hospital, Nilton Lins Hospital, Pronto Socorro 28 de Agosto Hospital, Getúlio Vargas University Hospital and Delphina Aziz Hospital and Emergency Room in the North Zone. For each bed, R $ 1.6 thousand will be paid per night of the ICU bed – double what is normally passed on. 90 respirators were sent to the Amazon, 35 of which were transport fans and 55 of ICUs.

The state of Amazonas also received more than 116,000 diagnostic tests from the Ministry of Health, 40,768 RT-PCR (molecular biology) and 75,320 rapid tests.

Lastly, the Ministry of Health distributed 100 pulmonary respirators to fight the coronavirus in four states in the country. Amapá and Paraíba received 20 pieces of equipment each. The states of Pernambuco and Ceará were provided with 30 pieces of equipment each. With the weekend deliveries, the Ministry of Health has already distributed 487 pulmonary respirators. The equipment is used to treat patients who have breathing difficulties and thus are unable to breathe on their own – one of the characteristics of severe coronavirus cases.

Altogether, 90 respirators have been distributed to the state of Amazonas, 65 to Amapá, 75 to Ceará, 20 to Paraíba, 10 to Espírito Santo, 80 to Pará, 50 to Pernambuco, 20 to Paraná , 60 for Rio de Janeiro and 17 for Santa Catarina.