Amazonas once again has the highest coronavirus transmission rate in Brazil

Ana Carolina Barbosa – Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – Following the example of what happened in January 2021, when the Amazon suffered the collapse of the health network and the shortage of medical oxygen in public and private units, the state this week was again the federative unit with the highest rate of contamination (Rate Rt) by coronavirus, which reached, on Tuesday, 25, to 2.06. The data is from the Loft Science platform. The increase, compared to the rate recorded a month ago in the state, 0.99, was 108.08%.

Compared to the Rt rate in Brazil, which, on the last 25th, was 1.69, the increase is 21.89%. The platform, which produces an estimate of Rt for each of the Brazilian states, with a 90% probability credible interval, also points out that, with the exception of Amazonas, no Brazilian state has a Rt rate above 1.99, which was recorded by Ceará, the second unit with the highest average transmission rate. Rio de Janeiro came third, with 1.92. The lowest rate is that of Pará, with 1.09.

The increase in transmission started, according to the platform, at the end of December, when the Rt rate already passed 1.09. It was also the month when Fiocruz Amazon detected, through genetic sequencing, the first cases of the Omicron variant in the state. Information from the Health Surveillance Foundation Dr. Rosemary Costa Pinto (FVS-RCP), linked to the Government of Amazonas, shows that the daily average of cases in the state was a little over 100. Five days ago, the state registered 8 thousand cases of Covid-19, the highest number of the month, raising the contamination curve.

The increase was due to the uncontrolled dissemination of the virus, but also because of the increase in testing in the capital, which before was restricted to health units and private labs, as well as pharmacies. Two points were opened to receive the public, one of them at the Vasco Vasques Convention Center, in Dom Pedro, Manaus’ Midwest zone, and the other at the Studio 5 Convention Center, at Rodrigo Otávio avenue, Industrial District, South zone.

The number of deaths by Covid-19 was also impacted by the explosion of cases. Previously, the average was between one and two deaths, considering those recorded on each date and those inserted after investigation. The last number released by FVS, also on the 25th, was of nine deaths, seven in 24 hours and three defined by investigation criteria, a number four times higher than usual.

The Epidemiological Bulletin of the FVS-RCP shows that 13,902 died in Amazonas victims of Covid-19, since the beginning of the pandemic. The total number of cases reaches 502,862.