RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – With 926 new cases confirmed in one day, Brazil has 12,056 confirmed infections with the coronavirus (causing Covid-19), according to data from the Ministry of Health released on Monday, April 6th. Since March 31st, new confirmed infections exceeded or reached nearly 1,000 daily.
Confirmed deaths have grown by almost 70 in 24 hours. On Sunday, April 5th, there were 486 deaths and now there are 553. As with the latest pandemic data update reports in the country, the mortality rate has been rising and now stands at 4.6 percent.
Most deaths (about 90 percent) are still among people over 60 and with pre-existing health conditions.
The Ministry of Health presented a comparison that shows the evolution of coronavirus in Brazil. “It took us 17 days to reach 100 cases, seven days to reach 1,000 cases and 14 days to reach 10,000 confirmed cases,” said Wanderson Oliveira, the Health Ministry’s health surveillance secretary.
According to the portfolio, Brazil is 15th in the world in the number of confirmed cases. In terms of deaths, the country is 13th. In first place is the United States, with 327,848 infections, followed by Spain, with 130,759. In the world, there are currently more than 1,252,982 people infected and 64,478 deaths.
The figures are higher
These are official records, but the mathematical projections suggest that they represent only ten percent of the real total of infections.
To compute the actual number of coronavirus cases in the country, a group of researchers from the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel) in Rio Grande do Sul will use a methodology similar to that of electoral polls.
Testing will begin in 15 days, and by the end of May, the country should have a clearer picture of the epidemic.
Originally, the project aimed to conduct the survey on an experimental basis in Rio Grande do Sul alone, with funding of R$1 million (US$200,000) from the Serrapilheira Institute.
But the Ministry of Health soon realized the project’s potential. Before the technicians could go into the field in the South, the portfolio entered into a contract for a nationwide survey. It will be the first study in Brazil to more accurately assess the number of infected people.
São Paulo extends quarantine
The governor of São Paulo, João Doria, announced on Monday, April 6th, that he will extend quarantine in the state’s 645 municipalities for another 15 days, until April 22nd, without flexibilization. The isolation measures began in the state on March 24th and would be valid until Tuesday, 7th.
On the date the first quarantine was decreed, on March 21st, the state of São Paulo recorded 810 confirmed cases of the disease and 40 deaths. In the data from last Sunday, April 5th, there were 4,620 confirmed patients and 275 deaths in São Paulo, representing a 900 percent increase in the spread of the disease since the beginning of quarantine.
According to the Health Secretary, José Henrique Germann, absent isolation measures, the government’s estimate was for a result ten times worse than the current scenario.
Source: Exame