Covid spikes in Brazil’s North were even deadlier than believed

For the first time since the coronavirus reached Brazil’s North region, the state of Amazonas went a full 24 hours without recording a single Covid-19 death on Tuesday. After eye-watering peaks in January and February, loss of life has fallen progressively in the country’s largest state, home to 4.2 million people.

The beginning of the year was one of desperation for Amazonas. The state hit global headlines in January when its local hospital network ran out of oxygen amid a spike in Covid-19 cases. On January 30, Amazonas recorded a total of 225 coronavirus deaths in the space of 24 hours. 

The crisis spread around Brazil’s North region and a new study shows that mortality rates were even higher than gross figures suggested.

Researchers from...