A survey published by Imperial College London showed that Brazil has the highest rate of coronavirus spread in the world. The national index is 2.8, that is, each person infected with Covid-19 transmits the disease to almost three people. The study analyzed the situation of the pandemic in 48 nations.
According to the survey, the country could record additional 5,680 deaths from Covid-19 next week. Until Friday, Brazil had almost 6,000 confirmed deaths from the disease. Among the nations analyzed, only Brazil and the United States show this trend in the escalation of deaths.
New deaths were calculated based on an average of minimum cases (2,360) and maximum cases (9,770) that may occur in the country next week, according to data from Imperial College.
In addition to Brazil, the rate of contagion by coronavirus is also high in countries such as Ireland (2.24), Mexico (1.95) and Poland (1.78). The lowest rates were observed in Greece (0.44), Switzerland and Ecuador (in both cases, 0.71).
The experts condition the analysis of the end of the isolation to the fulfilment of five factors: the number of beds in the intensive care units, successive falls in the number of deaths over 14 days, low contagion rate, availability of health protection equipment and tests, and a monitoring system that verifies if the transmission of cases is under control.
A letter from the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science warned that, if Brazil does not soon adopt an action plan against the coronavirus, “the government’s statements will come down to reporting the death toll.”
The entity recalled that the country has not yet reached the peak of the epidemic and that it must follow the guidelines stipulated by the World Health Organization (WHO), such as social isolation. President Jair Bolsonaro faces strong criticism for his handling of the pandemic crisis.
