Brazil’s Actions and Reactions in the Fight against COVID-19 from January to March 2020

Abstract

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and the disease it causes, COVID-19, which emerged in 2019, was identified by the World Health Organization as a public health emergency of international concern. Brazil actively responded to contain the virus. This case study aims to examine Brazil’s response to COVID-19 by investigating the country’s actions and reflecting upon the outcomes throughout January and March 2020. The data collection strategy included gathering data from the country’s intergovernmental organization’s official website, epidemiological bulletins, and news reports, guided by intersectoral and interdisciplinary themes. Although the highest incidence rates were in the most rich and populated region in Brazil, it was the poorest region that had the highest case fatality rate. Nevertheless, Brazil took several non-pharmaceutical measures to control and mitigate the spread of the virus. However, the strategy seems to have failed to consider regional and social inequalities. The actions of the health minister were undermined by a conflicting discourse between the minister and the president. The outbreak of COVID-19 added an extra burden on the country’s healthcare system and the existing economic crises; exacerbated the inherent social, political, and economic challenges; and exposed the country’s contradictions.

National Holidays and Social Mobility Behaviors: Alternatives for Forecasting COVID-19 Deaths in Brazil

“…Brazil has the highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in South America, and the population density varies according to the regional division of the country. The mean population density is 24.69 inhabitants per square kilometer [ 7 ]. According to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) [ 8 ], Brazil is composed of approximately 1.3 million independent or liberal professionals.…”

Number of Doses of Measles-Mumps-Rubeola Vaccine Applied in Brazil Before and During The COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Strategies to contain the pandemic in states and regions of Brazil were also not uniform, which may explain the percentage variations in the median of applied doses of the MMR vaccine, from 47.52% in the State of Sergipe (p = 0.041) to 64.91% in the State of Roraima (p = 0.000). While in some locations, the response to the epidemic phase of acceleration of the number of cases and deaths from COVID-19 was the mitigation by means of social distancing, other locations resorted to the strategy of total con nement, that is suspending all non-essential activities and limiting the circulation of people [29,30].…”

Early Interventions and Impact of COVID-19 in Spain

“…Public Health 2021, 18, 4026 2 of 15 countries have been able to control the spread faster and reduce the number of positive cases detected daily in less than a month; while others have focused their policies on reducing the possible economic and social impact by maintaining less severe social distance measures. However, common in all affected countries is the fact that the impacts of the health crisis go beyond the severe health consequences and have strong effects on the economic and social wellbeing of their populations [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17].…”