Brazil’s Most and Least Covid-19 Affected States in Proportion to Population

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Considering the population size, the list of States most affected by the coronavirus pandemic follows a different order. Amazonas, Ceará, and Pará have the highest mortality rates per 100,000 inhabitants.

An analysis by researchers from the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR) confirms this. The study was based on data released by the Ministry of Health on May 21st. Brazil passed the 300,000 infected and 20,000 deaths mark by Covid-19 last week.

In Amazonas the rate is 39.1 deaths for every 100,000 inhabitants. The number is four times higher than the national average of 9.5. Ceará (23.7), Pará (21.5), Pernambuco (20.1), Rio de Janeiro (19.8), and Amapá (17.9) are also in a worse situation. São Paulo is the State with the most cases but has a mortality rate of 10.5 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.

Death rate from coronavirus per 100,000 inhabitants on May 21

Amazonas 39.1

Ceará 23.7

Pará 21.5

Pernambuco 20.1

Rio de Janeiro 19.8

Amapá 17.9

São Paulo 12.1

Roraima 11.9

Maranhão 9.4

Espírito Santo 9

Acre 8.8

Alagoas 7.9

Paraíba 6.1

Rondônia 5.7

Rio Grande do Norte 5.1

Sergipe 3.3

Tocantins 3

Piauí 2.8

Distrito Federal 2.8

Bahia 2.5

Rio Grande do Sul 1.5

Santa Catarina 1.4

Paraná 1.2

Goiás 1.2

Mato Grosso 1

Minas Gerais 0.9

Mato Grosso do Sul 0.6

José Rocha Faria, a doctor, and coordinator of the Center for Epidemiology and Clinical Research at PUCPR says the analysis of the pandemic in the country should always be conducted on a regional basis.

“It’s a mistake to look at Brazil’s data as a whole because it is detrimental to the States suffering from the pandemic. This is an analysis to draw attention to the fact that the States are different in terms of socioeconomic and medical care capacity,” the research leader says.

The doctor also thinks that in the case of chronic non-transmissible diseases, the country can be analyzed as a whole because the region has less impact on incidence. “The data on deaths from heart attacks in southern States are very similar to those in the northern region,” he says.

Looking at the number of confirmed cases, the State of Amapá ranks first. The rate is of 613.43 people infected by coronavirus per 100,000 inhabitants. The ranking continues with Amazonas, with 612.04, followed by Acre, with 351.84, and Ceará, with 343.98.

The bottom of the list, the least affected by the pandemic, are the States of Paraná (22.87), Minas Gerais (26.43) and Mato Grosso do Sul (26.84).

Testing capacity

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths is directly linked to the States’ testing capacity.

Last week, the Ministry of Health announced that by May 20th it had provided the States with over 3 million RT-PCR tests, which are more accurate than others now being used. Just over 423,000 of these have already been performed and more than 2.6 million are still in stock. The daily processing average is 7,000 tests.

According to the government, São Paulo was the State that ran the most tests, while Rio de Janeiro holds the most in stock. The data does not consider the tests acquired by the States directly from suppliers.

Source: Exame