scientists had isolated a new type of coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), from these patients. It was hypothesized that the outbreak was associated with a seafood market in Wuhan (1).China promptly adopted public health measures to prevent and control the epidemic, including isolating patients, monitoring their contacts, and developing diagnostic and treatment procedures (2). However, the number of confirmed cases continued to increase, and the disease spread to other countries.The first cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outside China were reported in Thailand, Japan, and Korea. Since then, COVID-19 has spread to American and European territories. By the time the World Health Organization declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020, there were approximately 118,000 cases of COVID-19, with 4,291 deaths in 114 countries (1).In the American continent, the first case was reported in the United States of America on January 21, 2020, followed by Canada, which reported its first case four days later. In South America, the first case was confirmed on February 26, 2020 in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. By May 7, 2020, the country had already 135,106 confirmed cases and 9,146 deaths (3). However, these numbers are likely underreported. In addition to the absence of proper screening mechanisms for asymptomatic patients (4), Brazil's health system suffers from a chronic lack of testing for suspected cases and deaths, as is the case in a number of developing countries.
