COVID-19: ocorrência, taxa de ocupação de leitos em unidade de terapia intensiva e dinâmica socioeconômica na Bahia

Abstract

The COVID-19 disease pandemic has become a global health crisis. To analyze the relationship between ICU bed occupancy rates and mortality from COVID-19 in Salvador, from its appearance (2020) until vaccination coverage of at least 80% of the population OR until the year 2022 (in the absence of a vaccine). Population-based study carried out in Bahia and Salvador. This study is part of a large epidemiological study to be carried out throughout the national territory. The databases used were predominantly secondary and in the public domain. In Salvador, the highest ICU occupancy rates were in March 2021, May and June 2020, with an average of 84.2, 79.09 and 78.5, in descending order, respectively. The months in which occupancy rates in ICU beds showed the lowest percentage values were August 2021 with an average of 34.2, October 2020 with 43.6, followed by September 2020 with 41.23. The COVID-19 pandemic can be understood as a crisis that exposes the need to discuss government strategies for crisis control in a sociocultural context marked by inequities. It highlighted the importance of comprehensive public policies, investments in health systems and actions that circumvent underlying inequalities, which end up affecting health and, consequently, the number of cases and deaths in the country.