Symptoms and health conditions linked to the heat caused almost 450 visits per day to public health units in Rio de Janeiro in the last three days, according to the Municipal Health Department. On the 23rd, 24th and 25th, the emergency network registered 1,347 visits.
The most common cases of care possibly related to heat are dizziness, weakness and fainting, in addition to sunburn.
Since the afternoon of Christmas Eve (24), the city has been in Stage 3 of heat, on a scale that goes up to 5. At level 3, there are records of high heat indices (36°C to 40°C), expected to remain or increase for at least three days in a row.
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According to Alerta Rio, the Rio de Janeiro city hall’s meteorology system, the maximum temperature on Friday will be 40°C. If the forecast is confirmed, it will be the third day with a temperature of at least 40°C, in an interval of four days in the capital of Rio de Janeiro.
At the state level, the Rio de Janeiro government alerted all 92 municipalities to the dangers of excessive heat.
From December 20th to 25th, the state’s emergency care units (UPA) treated 942 people with symptoms linked to the heat.
The forecast is for more hot days, reaching 41°C on Sunday. Only from Tuesday onwards there may be isolated light to moderate rain.
I work in the heat
On these days of intense heat, one of the authorities’ main guidelines for the population is to drink plenty of water. Faced with this need, workers like José Otávio do Amaral Furtado seek their livelihood by selling and delivering bottles of mineral water and bags of ice to traders in the Central do Brasil region, one of the busiest in the center of Rio de Janeiro.
“It’s very tiring to work in a sun like that, at 40° Celsius (C), facing the sun all day,” he told Brazil Agencythis Friday (26).
“It’s not possible, Rio de Janeiro is a massacre with this heat”, he adds, next to the tricycle with the bags of melting ice.
Under a cloudless sky and no chance of rain, retired Luiza Helena da Cruz, 69, faces the walk with an open umbrella, a strategy to protect herself from the sun’s rays.
People take care of their hydration on a hot day in Rio de Janeiro. Photo: Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil
“I put on a lot of sunscreen, drink plenty of fluids and avoid walking too much in the sun. I stay at home more, I only go out to go to church or buy something and then come home straight away”, she explains about her care.
In another part of the city, in the south zone, famous for its beaches, the scene on the last Friday of the year is a crowded promenade, sand and sea. Tens of thousands of people take the opportunity to cool off during this period squeezed between Christmas and New Year.
Cariocas and tourists go to the beach on a very hot day in Rio de Janeiro. Photo: Tomaz Silva/Agência Brasil
The intense movement is synonymous with income for seller Emily Vieira Freire, who has been working at an açaí stand on the edge of Arpoador beach for four months.
“It sells a lot,” she says, not hiding the negative sides of the heat. “It makes you very thirsty, the sun is too much, it’s too hot.”
Recommendations
Rio City Hall lists a series of recommendations to reduce the risk of health problems on very hot days:
- Increase your intake of water or natural fruit juices, without added sugar, even if you are not thirsty
- Eat light foods like fruits and salads
- Wear light and cool clothes
- Avoid alcoholic and high sugar drinks
- Avoid direct exposure to the sun, especially between 10 am and 4 pm
- If you feel unwell, dizzy or have other symptoms caused by heat stress, seek medical attention.
Workers in the city center on a hot day in Rio de Janeiro. Photo: Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil
