Numbers of the week: Dec. 12, 2020

The patient is a 37-year-old health worker, who lives in the northeastern city of Natal. She contracted the disease in June, was considered cured, but became infected again in October. Confirmation of reinfection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus came after sequencing the complete viral genome, identifying two distinct strains.</p> <hr class="wp-block-separator"/> <h2>1,000 days without Marielle Franco</h2> <p>The investigation into the <a href="https://brazilian.report/podcast/2019/03/13/marielle-franco-impunity-cops/">March 2018 assassination</a> of Rio de Janeiro City Councilor Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Gomes has now been open for over 1,000 days, without discovering who ordered Ms. Franco&#8217;s murder. One of the key lines of investigation is stalled due to a legal dispute between prosecutors, who want access to geolocation data of all cell phones in the area where the getaway car was last seen (in December 2018), and Google, which refuses to hand over the information. The case has now reached the Supreme Court, after Google lost its prior appeals.</p> <hr class="wp-block-separator"/> <h2>80 percent of public ICUs occupied</h2> <p>According to newspaper <a href="https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/cotidiano/2020/12/oito-capitais-tem-mais-de-80-de-lotacao-de-utis-para-covid-19.shtml">Folha de S.Paulo</a>, occupancy rates in coronavirus intensive care wings have surpassed 80 percent in eight Brazilian state capitals. The list includes tourist hubs such as Rio de Janeiro (92%), Florianópolis (98%), and Natal (93%) — causing concern for authorities as end-of-year holidays are about to begin.</p> <hr class="wp-block-separator"/> <h2>BRL 57.92 per share</h2> <p>Rede D&#8217;Or São Luiz, Brazil&#8217;s largest hospital chain, priced its initial offering of shares at BRL 57.92 (USD 11.41) each — making it the largest IPO of a Brazilian company since 2013. Rede D’Or is the first chain of hospitals to be listed on the B3 stock exchange, and raised BRL 11.4 billion along with its investors, which include private equity firm Carlyle and Singaporean investor GIC. The hospital chain plans to use roughly BRL 8.4 billion of the money to build and expand hospitals and acquire businesses, such as health insurance brokers.</p> <hr class="wp-block-separator"/> <h2>39 percent of clean techs in the red</h2> <p>While demand from environmentally-friendly solutions has grown, the clean tech market in Brazil remains far from being viable. A recent survey showed that 39 percent of the sector&#8217;s startups are operating at a loss. Their biggest challenges include expanding their business, raising more funds, and convincing clients of the value of their services.</p> <hr class="wp-block-separator"/> <h2>12 percent in social isolation</h2> <p>In October, only 12 percent of Brazilians remained in strict social isolation in Brazil. The number comes from the <a href="https://covid19.ibge.gov.br/pnad-covid/">Pnad Covid</a> survey, carried out by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics to calculate the impacts of the pandemic. That number has practically halved in three months since July, and went from 23.3 percent to 12.4 percent.</p> <hr class="wp-block-separator"/> <h2>2.7 percent fewer marriages</h2> <p>Brazilians are becoming less and less eager to <a href="https://agenciadenoticias.ibge.gov.br/agencia-noticias/2012-agencia-de-noticias/noticias/29647-casamentos-reduzem-pelo-quarto-ano-seguido-e-passam-a-durar-menos-tempo">tie the knot</a>. Official data shows a 2.7-percent dip in the number of officiated marriages nationwide: just over 1 million in 2019. The number of same-sex marriages dropped even more, 4.9 percent — a noteworthy move considering 2018&#8217;s 64-percent rise in that category. At the time, several couples rushed to get married before President Jair Bolsonaro&#8217;s inauguration in January 2019, out of fears that he would try to roll back LGBTQ rights.</p> <p>Over the past decade, marriages have also become shorter-lived, with the average union lasting four years less than before.