Prognosis

Covid-19 Is Killing Nurses in Brazil More Than Anywhere Else

  • Country’s Federal Nursing Council reports 137 deaths
  • The nation of 210 million people has become a virus hotspot

Doctors and nurses work in the Covid-19 intensive care unit (ICU) at the Emilio Ribas Institute of Infectious Disease hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on May 15.

Photographer: Jonne Roriz/Bloomberg
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The coronavirus is killing Brazilian nurses faster than anywhere else in the world as the pandemic spreads in the Latin American nation.

The country’s Federal Nursing Council says there are more than 15,000 nurses infected with Covid-19, which according to the council represents almost 40% of the global case toll. As of Wednesday, 137 nurses had died. Walquirio Almeida, a spokesman for the body known as Cofen, links the high number of deaths to the lack of equipment and preparation of medical teams.