Published on : 05/22/2020 – 10:55Modified : 05/22/2020 – 10:55
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The number of deaths linked to Covid-19 has doubled in just eleven days in Brazil, according to figures from the Ministry of Health. The proportion of young adults who die is particularly high, especially among the poorest, who find it more difficult to respect the rules of social distancing.
A new milestone is reached in Brazil. The threshold of 20,000 deaths linked to Covid-19 was crossed on Friday, May 22. For the past twenty-four hours, a record increase of 1,188 deaths have been identified by the Ministry of Health.
Among the people who have succumbed to the new coronavirus, young Brazilians are particularly numerous. The share of under-60s, which was 19% in early April, rose to 31% this week. In Spain and Italy, this share does not exceed 5%, according to the latest official reports.
A young population
This difference is explained first of all by the age pyramid: only 13.6% of Brazilians are over 60, compared with 25% in Spain and 28% in Italy. But other factors come into play.
“As our population is younger, it is normal that the percentage of deaths is higher among those under 60, but it is also due to the fact that these young adults less respect the confinement measures”, explains to the ‘AFP Mauro Sanchez, epidemiologist at the University of Brasilia.
The containment rate, measured by the signal from mobile phones, has been falling steadily for a month, while extreme right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, coronasceptic, continues to question the restrictive measures taken by state governors .
20-39 year olds are most affected
The Ministry of Health does not provide information on the age range of those infected. The official figures for confirmed cases are largely underestimated, with specialists estimating that they are at least fifteen times lower than the reality.
According to estimates by the collective of researchers Covid-19 Brasil, the country has more than 3.6 million people infected, against some 310,000 according to the latest official report.
According to these group projections, the two most contaminated age groups are 20-29 years and 30-39 years, with more than 580,000 cases each, twice as many as 60-69 years.
“We know that there are different forms of coronavirus circulating in the world, but no study so far has shown that it is more virulent in young people in Brazil,” says Patricia Canto, pulmonologist at the ‘National School of Public Health of Fiocruz, benchmark research institute.
“They leave their house because they have no choice”
“But the figures are worrying because they show that many young people are not taking the necessary precautions and are exposed to the virus, while they too are at risk of being seriously ill with the disease,” she continues.
“Even if most young infected adults do not need to be hospitalized, the health services are all the more saturated because they do not receive only the elderly,” adds Mauricio Sanchez.
For this researcher, “most of those who do not respect confinement leave their homes because they have no choice”, an allusion to the millions of poor workers whose incomes depend exclusively on the informal sector, such as vendors itinerant.
No massive aid for the most vulnerable
“If the government had put in place a policy of mass aid for the most vulnerable, perhaps people would stay more at home,” he said.
An allowance of 600 reais [environ 100 euros] is planned for informal workers. But many of them had trouble signing up and crowds gathered to face long queues of several hours outside the branches of the public bank Caixa.
Brazil is currently experiencing a marked acceleration in its curve, with a total of 20,047 deaths and 310,087 confirmed cases, figures which would be far below reality, according to scientists. The death toll has doubled in just eleven days in Brazil, according to ministry figures.
With AFP
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