RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In a reversal of what is currently the case – a relaxation of social distancing in the cities, particularly the largest in the country, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro – Brazil should have at least another 15 days of “a strict lockdown” for the transmission curve of the novel coronavirus to enter a safe descending route, according to epidemiologist Pedro Curi Hallal.
“Soon Brazil would be on the same level as other nations, such as Germany, Italy, Spain, and even the US, where numbers have been decreasing daily for some time now,” estimates the scientist, dean of the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel) and coordinator of the first major national study on the spread of Covid-19 in the country, sponsored by the Ministry of Health.
According to him, Brazil stands out in absolute numbers in all pandemic indicators, both negative and positive.
“It is the second-ranked country with the most deaths, the second country with the most cases now. And it must be the second country with the most recovered patients because the intensity of the virus is not that different between countries. What’s different is the virus’ transmissibility rate or the percentage of the population affected. And Brazil is a big country, as is the United States”.