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Coronavirus Patient Discharged After Monthlong Stay in Amazon Hospital

A Brazilian COVID-19 patient was discharged from a hospital in the city of Manaus to a chorus of cheers from medical staff, video taken on May 21 shows.

This footage was recorded by Magda Lima, a medical worker at the Dr João Lúcio Pereira Machado hospital in the capital city of the state of Amazonas. Lima said the patient had been in serious condition, was in the hospital for one month, and suffered complications from the virus.

Brazil has the worst coronavirus outbreak in Latin America, and amid a weak federal response, Manaus has been one of the areas most affected by the virus. President Jair Bolsonaro has repeatedly played down the risk of the virus, which has officially claimed over 23,000 lives in Brazil, but is believed to have killed far more, reports said.

In Manaus, the supply of coffins has run low, and workers have begun digging mass graves to fill with the bodies of coronavirus dead, burying coffins “one on top of the other,” according to reports.

The scene last Thursday was hopeful, however, Lima said.

“When we spend a lot of time with the patient, we create a bond of friendship,” Lima told Storyful. Credit: Magda Lima via Storyful