Health will transfer R$ 160 million to treat post-Covid

The Ministry of Health announced this Wednesday (16) that it will transfer R$ 160 million for the treatment of post-Covid symptoms in primary health care, such as in basic units.

With these resources, municipal managers and the Federal District can hire professionals and create environments for the care of these patients, said Health in a statement.

The values ​​will be distributed according to a priority index prepared by the folder. “The index takes into account the number of teams, social vulnerability index, by population and mortality rate by Covid-19”, said the folder.

When announcing the appeal, Minister Marcelo Queiroga said that one of the advantages of strengthening primary health care is to avoid pressure on inpatient beds.

“Post-Covid conditions can manifest in different ways and depend on the extent and severity of the infection,” Health said in a press release. The folder cites tiredness, shortness of breath, cough, chest pain, loss of smell and taste, headache, dizziness, changes in memory, anxiety and depression as symptoms that may persist or appear after infection.

Secretary of Primary Care, Raphael Parente said that the resource should serve to “organize” services, active search for new cases, diagnosis and treatment of people with post-Covid symptoms.

Saúde also cited a study published in the journal The Lancet pointing out that 76% of 1,733 patients evaluated had some persistent symptom even six months after acute Covid-19 infection.

At the same event, Queiroga said that the impact of the ômicron variant is stabilizing, with a downward trend.

“There are still about 800 deaths [na média móvel diária]but if we remember the gamma variant, there were days with more than 3,000”, said the minister.