Covid-19: Number of Delta variant cases in Brazil up 86% in one week

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil on Tuesday, August 31, reached a total of 2,613 confirmed cases of the Delta variant of the novel coronavirus, recording an 86% increase in the number of positive diagnoses registered up to last Tuesday (1,405), according to data compiled by the Ministry of Health.

The significant increase in the number of cases, however, may be influenced by a change in the way the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) is classifying the variant.

To date, Delta cases have been reported in the Federal District (181) and in the following states, according to the Ministry of Health: Alagoas (3), Amapá (5), Amazonas (18), Bahia (3), Ceará (96), Espírito Santo (7), Goiás (47), Maranhão (7), Minas Gerais (102), Pará (5), Paraíba (87), Paraná (76), Pernambuco (15), Rio de Janeiro (907), Rio Grande do Norte (3), Rio Grande do Sul (230), Santa Catarina (63), São Paulo (757), and Tocantins (1).

In Rio de Janeiro, the state with the highest absolute number of cases, the Delta now accounts for 86% of sequenced Covid-19 cases, according to data mapped by the Corona-Ômic Network for genomic surveillance of the novel coronavirus in the state. In June, Delta cases accounted for only 6%. The next month they jumped to 48%; now they are the absolute majority.

In all, the Delta has caused at least 67 deaths nationwide. The states which have recorded fatalities from the disease are: Bahia (1), Goiás (2), Maranhão (1), Minas Gerais (4), Paraná (21), Pernambuco (1), Rio de Janeiro (11), Rio Grande do Sul (19) and Santa Catarina (2), as well as the Federal District, with 5 deaths.

The Piracicaba city hall on Monday, August 30, reported that the city registered the first death in São Paulo caused by the Delta variant. The case was reported on Tuesday to the State Health Secretariat, which said it is investigating the details.

As the Ministry of Health data are updated from the state secretariats’ notifications, the death in Piracicaba will only be included by the federal government once confirmed by the São Paulo government.

CHANGE IN W.H.O. CRITERIA

On Thursday, August 25, the city of São Paulo announced that the World Health Organization has changed the way the Delta variant is analyzed, and now classifies all AY strains as variants of concern (VOC). With this new scenario, the Butantan Institute started to also report samples with these sub-lineages in the capital, thereby increasing the number of positive Delta diagnoses in the state of São Paulo from 266 to 757 in one week.

In addition to São Paulo, the measure may have affected the number of confirmed cases of the variant in other states, which may have been a determining factor in the 86% increase in the total number of confirmed cases.