Top: President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro holds up a box of hydroxychloroquine during a ceremony in which Eduardo Pazuello took office as Minister of He

Opinion: Wildfire Anxieties on the Rise

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2021-06-17 16:00:04

Top: President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro holds up a box of hydroxychloroquine during a ceremony in which Eduardo Pazuello took office as Minister of Health on Sept. 16, 2020. Visual: Andressa Anholete / Getty Images

I n January 2021, Thalita Rocha stood by her mother-in-law, Maria da Cruz Lima, at a public health clinic in Manaus, Brazil. Lima, a 67-year-old retired nurse, had caught the highly contagious Covid-19 gamma variant (formerly called P.1) assailing the Amazon’s largest city. She was waiting for a spot to open up at an intensive care unit but was feeling optimistic — a nurse had started her on oxygen and she seemed to be improving. An oximeter clipped onto Lima’s index finger measured her blood oxygen saturation and was finally showing healthy levels, around 98 percent.

That afternoon, though, Rocha noticed her mother-in-law’s skin turning purple. Lima also broke out in a cold sweat and was feeling breathless. A sense of panic filled the room. Lima was not the only one: The oxygen at the unit had run out.

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