Coronavirus

São Paulo is first Brazilian city to top 1 million coronavirus cases

São Paulo 1 million coronavirus cases
Subway station in São Paulo. Photo: Nelson Antoine/Shutterstock

After setting records for new cases and deaths on a weekly basis, São Paulo surpassed the mark of 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases on Tuesday, becoming the first city in Brazil to do so. Accounting for almost 7 percent of all Covid-19 cases in Brazil: only the surrounding state of São Paulo and Minas Gerais have recorded more cases than the country’s biggest city. 

Indeed, if São Paulo were its own nation, it would rank 27th in the world in terms of total cases, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Covid-19 tracker. However, vaccine rollouts in the city have been comparatively efficient

São Paulo is also the city with the highest number of deaths from the virus: more than 26,000, representing around 7 percent of the total casualties in Brazil.