Data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) shows that the Brazilian population is becoming increasingly concentrated in big cities. And that helps explain why most Covid-19 cases in Brazil have been restricted to just a few large metropolitan areas. Five state capitals—São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Recife, Brasília, and Porto Alegre—account for two-thirds of confirmed infections so far.
Earlier today, this live blog reported that cases might have been dramatically underreported, due to a problem with how the Health Minister is collecting notifications of potential cases. Despite the virus rapidly spreading within Brazil, the protocol used by the Health Ministry still doesn’t allow hospitals to report Covid-19 cases if the patients have not traveled abroad recently or have not had contact with an individual suspected or confirmed to have been infected with the coronavirus.
The Ministry of Health has acknowledged the error and has pledged to correct it as soon as possible.
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