Public hospitals in six cities in Santa Catarina had to postpone, between last Monday (31) and this morning (3), at least 47 elective surgeries, due to the blockade of federal highways by protesters who do not accept the result of the elections. presidential.
According to the state health department, the protests also delayed the distribution of vaccines on Monday, the day when 91,192 doses of immunizations were dispatched from São José to Araranguá, Criciúma and Tubarão. After two hours stuck in traffic, the vehicle carrying the medicines had to return to the center to prevent the heat from rendering the vaccines unusable.
After temporarily suspending the delivery of immunizations to the municipalities and rescheduling some of the routes used, the state secretariat resumed today (3) the distribution of vaccines through two routes: one that serves the regional regions of Tubarão, Criciúma and Araranguá and another that supplies Lages and South river. Despite the inconvenience, the agency reported that, so far, no state public hospital has reported any severe case of shortage of supplies or medicines.
In relation to elective surgeries, the secretary explained that the 47 postponed procedures should have taken place until Tuesday (1st). The number has remained since then, because due to the holiday, no surgeries were scheduled for Wednesday, when public security agencies began to release vehicle traffic and the situation on the highways began to normalize.
Despite this, in a note released today, the secretary asked that patients who still face difficulty in moving, due to the demonstrations, contact the health units to receive guidance.
Until Tuesday, the Nossa Senhora das Graças hospitals, in Bom Retiro, and Ruth Cardoso, in Balneário Camboriú, each cleared ten elective surgeries. The São Marcos units, in Nova Veneza, and Nossa Senhora da Penha, in Penha, suspended eight procedures each. At the Santo Antônio Municipal Hospital, in Itapema, another six elective surgeries were suspended and at the Marieta Konder Bornhausen Hospital and Maternity Hospital, in Itajaí, another five.
According to the most recent bulletin released by the Federal Highway Police (PRF), until 5 pm today, three sections of federal highways were partially closed in Santa Catarina: at km 6 of BR-101, in Garuva; at km 158 of the BR-470, in Trombudo Central, and at km 173 of the same BR-470, in Pouso Redondo.
