With four months since Brazil’s first Covid-19 case was registered, 1 in every five cities in the country is still recording an accelerated growth novel coronavirus cases. The disease is declining in just 3 percent of the cities.
Among the 27 capitals, 20 saw an increased growth rate of cases at a time when mayors and governors are easing social isolation and reopening the economy. The disease is decelerating in one city, Recife.
Two researchers from USP, Renato Vicente, professor at the Mathematics Institute, and Rodrigo Veiga, a doctoral student in physics, developed a statistical model that measures the speed of the epidemic and how it changes over time. They relied on a study by epidemiologists from Unesp to develop the project.
The methodology uses the number of new cases from the past 30 days. The situation in each locale is divided into five categories: initial, accelerated, stable, deceleration, and controlled.
On Thursday (18), Brazil had 1,138 cities in a situation of accelerated growth of Covid-19. This is equivalent to 20% of the total number of Brazilian municipalities. Today, the disease has reached 83% of them, a universe of 4,811 cities.
The state with the most municipalities undergoing acceleration is São Paulo (139, which is equivalent to 22%), followed by Ceará (119, which is equal to 65%).
On Monday (22), 748 deaths and 24,358 new cases were recorded, according to a report by the consortium of press vehicles.
The country already has more than 1 million people infected with Covid-19 and a total of 51,407 deaths.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon