Santa Catarina Passes Bahia, Becomes Brazilian State with Third-Most Covid-19 Cases

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – With approximately half a million people infected with the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, Santa Catarina has passed Bahia and has become the state with the third-most confirmed cases. It is behind only São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

The data were compiled by the Ministry of Health. Up to Saturday’s data, Santa Catarina counts 496,524 confirmed Covid-19 cases, as well as 5,294 deaths. São Paulo, the leading state, counts 1,467,953 cases and 46,808 deaths.

Next is Minas Gerais, with 549,302 cases and 12,023 deaths. After Santa Catarina comes Bahia, with 495,286 diagnosed patients and 9,187 who were unable to survive the disease.

In proportional cases, Santa Catarina is also among the first in the country. The state also increased over the past month when the number of confirmed cases per million inhabitants was analyzed. The state currently holds the fourth highest rate in the country, with 68,462 cases per one million inhabitants. At the first peak of the pandemic, in the first week of August, Santa Catarina ranked 17th in the proportional index of cases per inhabitant.

The states currently topping the list are Roraima (57,747), Federal District (41,264) and Amapá (44,558).

The Brazilian average is currently 36,440 cases per million inhabitants (46.7% less than in Santa Catarina) and the Southern Region is 45,344 per million.

In contrast, lethality in Santa Catarina, i. e., the percentage of infected people who do not survive the disease, is the lowest in the country. Since May 28th (the month in which population testing was intensified in the municipalities), the index fluctuates between 1.01% and 1.64%. On Saturday, the rate stood at 1.07%, a slight upward trend.

The Brazilian average has been gradually dropping since May 12th, when it stood at 6,98%, as a result of the increase in testing in the states. Now it stands at 2,54%, the lowest rate since March 25th.