Coronavirus: Brazil likely to have 12 times more cases than reported, study finds
- Death rate in country much higher than expected, suggesting many infections not being counted
- Researchers say cases could hit 60,000 within a week in worst-case scenario
Brazil is likely to have 12 times more cases of the new coronavirus than are being officially reported by the government, with too little testing and long waits to confirm the results, according to a study released on Monday.
Researchers at a consortium of Brazilian universities and institutes examined the ratio of cases resulting in deaths through April 10 and compared it with data on the expected death rate from the World Health Organisation.
The much higher-than-expected death rate in Brazil indicates there are many more cases of the virus than are being counted, with the study estimating only 8 per cent of cases are being officially reported.
The government has focused on testing serious cases rather than all suspected cases, according to the consortium, known as the Centre for Health Operations and Intelligence. The centre and medical professionals have also complained of long wait times to get test results.
Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta has said that it is difficult to distribute tests in Brazil because of the size of the country but acknowledges that testing needs to improve.
Officially, Brazil’s coronavirus death toll rose to 1,328 on Monday, while the number of confirmed cases hit 23,430, according to health ministry data.