Cities with few Covid-19 deaths see SARI deaths spike

Some of Brazil’s state capitals have claimed to have successfully tamed the coronavirus spread. In Minas Gerais, the governor made the rounds on TV stations claiming they had the best strategy to fight Covid-19, before temporarily reopening the capital Belo Horizonte for business. In the southern state of Santa Catarina, the city of Florinópolis just celebrated one full month without a single casualty from the pandemic. But, as we have shown time and again, there is more than meets the eye here. Capitals that claim to have “won” the war on the coronavirus are actually experiencing a surge in deaths caused by severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) — which can be caused by Covid-19, but also by pneumonia or influenza.

Unspecified respiratory illnesses are killing 12 times more people than Covid-19 in the capitals which portray themselves as coronavirus “safe havens.” The lowest is...