The COVID-19 situation in Brazilian care homes and actions taken to mitigate infection and reduce mortality

Dr Patrick Alexander Wachholz, Prof. Cleusa P. Ferri, Dr Elaine Mateus, Dr Fabiana da Mata, Dr Déborah Oliveira

The report is available here:

Key findings:

  • There are no official data on the number of cases and mortality related to COVID-19 in Brazilian care homes, nor on the profile of the residents who have died.
  • There are multiple barriers and challenges to overcome in order to integrate national notification systems with long-term care organizations.
  • Estimates based on data collated informally by the researchers showed that there have been over 500 deaths in Brazilian care homes, which represents a case fatality rate of nearly 19%.
  • Data from the Public Prosecutor Offices in seven states, collected at different moments within the period between 14 May and 21 June, found that 2,673 (out of 42,216) care home residents and 1,060 members of staff had COVID-19 infections confirmed through laboratory tests. A total of 502 deaths due to COVID-19 were recorded among residents, which represents a case fatality rate of 18.78%.
  • Nearly 65% of care home managers reported to be currently experiencing financial difficulties, and the Brazilian economy is expected to contract by 7.4-9.1% in 2020.

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