RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – More than 1,300 people have died from Covid-19 in the state of São Paulo in a period of 38 days. This is more than triple the number of homicides over the same period last year (359 cases).
On Thursday, April 23rd, the number of coronavirus victims in a single day reached its highest recorded so far, with 211 cases. The survey considers the interval between March 17th (date of the first death by the disease in the state in 2020) and April 23rd.
The number of victims of the disease over these 38 days this year (1,345) is higher than that of homicide in the first 114 days in 2019 when there were 1,044 murders.
Violent deaths have been assessed based on the Public Security Secretariat’s criminal charges reports and include cases of manslaughter, armed robbery, and bodily injury followed by death. The numbers may be slightly higher as in one occurrence there may be more than one murderer victim (the average is 1.05 victims per report, which would provide an estimate of 1,096 deaths).
On the other hand, there still seems to be a backlog in reporting cases and deaths from Covid-19; if confirmed, this would further widen the gap over deaths by homicide. The comparison has been made with last year’s murders, as data on homicides in March this year have not yet been released.
In the first two months of 2020, the figures were similar to those in 2019. According to the São Paulo government, the state has more than 16,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases. At least 256 municipalities (40 percent of the state total) have reported the disease.
On Thursday, the occupation rate of ICUs in São Paulo stood at 55 percent. In the capital, where the majority of patients are found, the rate is 74 percent. The state accounts for almost 40 percent of all deaths recorded in Brazil. It was also here that Covid-19 was first detected, on February 26th.
By order of Governor João Doria, the entire state of São Paulo has been under quarantine since March 24th, with the closing of trade and non-essential services.
A phased reopening is expected to begin on May 11th. The state will monitor the outbreak, comparing potential scenarios of the virus’ development, and new protocols will be established depending on the situation of each region and each economic sector.
The rate of deaths had been dropping since April 14th. The peak number of deaths was recorded at that time, with 85 victims. However, on Thursday, there was another surge, with 211 deaths.
Source: Folhapress