A large international team of researchers has conducted a study aimed at tracing the transmission rates and the origin of major SARS-CoV-2 strains currently circulating in Brazil. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group outlines their strategy and what they learned about the progression of COVID-19 in Brazil.
Brazil, like the United States, has taken a hands-off approach in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Like the U.S., the country has a leader who has not pushed for strategies known to slow the spread of the virus, such as wearing masks, self-isolating, and social distancing. The result has been one of the fastest-growing epidemics in the world, behind only the U.S. In this new effort, the researchers sought to learn more about transmission rates and the particular strains of SARS-CoV-2 infecting people in Brazil.
The researchers note that initial efforts to slow the spread of the virus in Brazil appeared to be effective, due to the efforts of local leaders—but as the virus spread to other parts of the country, the epidemic picked up steam. To learn more about the virus and why it was able to spread so quickly, the researchers used a variety of tools. One of the first was analyzing data from sources around the country that described mobility of infections, infection rates and deaths. They also included deaths not reported as due to COVID-19 but likely were—most were labeled simply as severe acute respiratory infections. In that part of the study, they used the data to create model simulations. And the model simulations showed that closing down stores and schools in hot spots slowed the spread of the virus. Ignoring it, on the other hand, did not.
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