Brazil’s policies condemn Amazonia to a second wave of COVID-19

• Autor(a) principal: Lucas Ferrante
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Wilhelm Alexander Steinmetz, Alexandre Celestino Leite Almeida, Jeremias Leão, Ruth Camargo Vassão, Unaí Tupinambás, Philip Martin Fearnside, Luiz Henrique Duczmal
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UFMG
• Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-1026-x; http://hdl.handle.net/1843/47605
• topic: COVID-19; Brasil

As of 20 July 2020, Brazil ranked second in the world in both confirmed COVID-19 cases (2,074,860) and COVID-19 deaths (78,772). The first case in Brazil’s Amazon region was reported on 13 March in Amazonas state; this region is particularly sensitive to COVID-19 due to the large number of indigenous peoples and their descendants, who are part of the COVID-19 risk group. On 17 April, when the cumulative number of confirmed cases in Amazonas totaled 1,809 and confirmed deaths totaled 145, we warned that strict social distancing in Manaus and the restriction of statewide and interstate passenger travel (road, air and river) would be necessary to prevent the causative coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 from spreading in the interior of the state. None of these measures were taken, and between the date of the warning and 20 July, confirmed cases in Amazonas had increased by 4,951% (reaching 91,389), and confirmed deaths had increased by 2,069% to a total of 3,146, according to data from the state government’s Health Surveillance Foundation. Studies have shown that COVID-19 can be significantly reduced by social-isolation measures, and the ideal duration of such measures is longer than 2 months. This was not the course followed in Manaus, contrary to recommendations made by specialists to the State Public Ministry. If a second wave of the pandemic in Amazonia is to be avoided, effective measures such as closing schools and non-essential services need to be implemented immediately.