Called out on its bullshit, Minas Gerais hides Covid-19 data

The state of Minas Gerais boasts that it is one of the most successful Brazilian states in tackling the coronavirus. Despite having the country’s second-largest population (21 million people), it has recorded only 4,196 infections (fewer than 20 per million people) and 146 deaths. However, as we showed last week, this is simply because the state is not testing suspected cases and has a backlog of over 100,000 untested suspected coronavirus patients. Called out on its bullshit, the state has come up with a simple solution: it simply stopped publishing data on suspected cases altogether.

All Brazilian states — or all countries, for that matter — have fewer confirmed cases than the real numbers. And while some underreporting is unavoidable, there is a dangerous trend occurring in places such as Minas Gerais. Many patients go to healthcare units presenting Covid-19-like symptoms. These cases are monitored — but most are never tested. In the first few weeks of the pandemic, the Health Minister’s guidelines reserved testing only for more severe cases, as...