A disturbing video footage of corpses lie beside live patients recorded by a nurse is making its rounds on the internet. The video is taken at the João Lúcio Hospital in Manaus City in the northern Brazilian state of Amazonas.
In total, 14 corpses are being kept next to patients. This horrifying video surfaced just after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro sparked anger for firing health minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta after urging the government to do more to fight the pandemic.
Brazil's president fired its health minister
Doctors and other experts have warned the Brazilian government that the COVID-19 outbreak is expected to peak soon in the coming weeks, but Brazil's president Bolosonaro has repeatedly insisted that the pandemic is just a "little flu."
Former health minister Mandetta was a respected orthopedist, who promoted isolation and were oftentimes compared to Dr. Anthony Fauci -the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the scientific voice of reason on how to respond to the pandemic -over his handling on the situation before he was fired.
Also called the "Trump of the Tropics," Bolsonaro said that Mandetta's departure was a consensual decision. Additionally, he also insisted that no government official is more important than the health of the Brazilian people.
Mandetta told fellow ministers in a televised press conference on Thursday after announcing his departure, "you should have absolute certainty that we fought a good fight until here. But we're at the start of the battle. 'Life is priceless, but the economy and employment need to return to normality."
Read Also: Scientists Confirm First Case of Coronavirus Spreading From Corpses
Dead bodies beside live patients
The video footage showing dead bodies lying beside live patients was captured by one nurse of the João Lúcio Hospital. According to Daily Mail, there are a total of 14 corpses being kept next to the patients infected with COVID-19.
Brazil's State Secretary of Health has stated that the victims who died between the night of April 15 and the morning of April 16, and the other five bodies are now removed.
They clarified that the 14 deaths that occurred in the hospital on the said dates were of suspected patients infected with COVID-19. Five out of 14 bodies had already been released until 5 pm on Thursday and the other nine bodies of the coronavirus victim remain in hospital awaiting family members with death certificates.
Among the 14 patients, 8 of them are people ages 60 and above, six have underlying conditions, and all are admitted with severe conditions. Five of them were admitted in the last 24 hours.
Furthermore, the Health Secretary also said that since Delphina Aziz Hospital has now become full, João Lúcio Hospital will now be used to treat COVID-19 patients. They have already additional beds in the hospital to meet the high-level demand of the situation.
Moreover, João Lúcio Hospital will continue receiving suspected patients until Delphina Aziz Hospital's bed capacity is increased and the Nilton Lins hospital becomes operational.
When the expanded capacity of Delphina and reinforcement of beds in the near hospital is complete, João Lúcio Hospital will exclusively be for urgent and emergency care to support the network.