Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the most severe global public health crisis in the last century. SARS-CoV-2 emerged in China in December 2019, and since then, it has been quickly spreading around the world. After Europe and North America, the virus has arrived in Latin America. Among the developing countries, Brazil has been the most affected by the pandemic causalities, which is a concern, since social and economic disparities may favor its severity. In an attempt to reduce virus transmission, public health measures have been implemented by the states, despite the lack of assistance from the Brazilian federal government. Implementing social distancing and hygiene measures have not been possible, mainly due to the unfavorable social conditions of economically vulnerable people. Thus, the pandemic is exposing the evidence of social inequalities in the country, which in turn deepens the public health crisis. Here, we discuss evidence from relevant topics that are influencing the course of the pandemic in Brazil, including food insecurity, social aspects and public health political issues. The pandemic has exposed the need for maintaining and improving the social care and food security of vulnerable groups as well as the harm of ignoring them. Thus, more effective mitigation measures must be thought and applied in Brazil to improve the handling of this pandemic and the next ones.
Highlights
IntroductionThe recent emergence of a novel coronavirus named SARS-CoV-2 in December 2019 in Wuhan (province of Hubei, China) and its worldwide spread has led to an unprecedented global health crisis in this century
The recent emergence of a novel coronavirus named SARS-CoV-2 in December 2019 in Wuhan and its worldwide spread has led to an unprecedented global health crisis in this century
Social vulnerabilities linked to socioeconomic status and other social stratifications must be taken into account when fighting a global pandemic
Summary
The recent emergence of a novel coronavirus named SARS-CoV-2 in December 2019 in Wuhan (province of Hubei, China) and its worldwide spread has led to an unprecedented global health crisis in this century. SARS-CoV-2 is the underlying agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) This illness can lead to severe respiratory outcomes in at least 20% of the infected patients (2). Depending on the context, specific measures implementation aiming to reduce virus spread can be thought, which will be discussed below. In this context, the social inequality in Brazil impacts many aspects of public health, such as the hunger and food/nutritional insecurity, which are increasing due to the pandemic (8). We aim to discuss the social inequalities, the food insecurity issues, and the current political scenario implications during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Brazil, which are leading to this sanitary and humanitarian crisis
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