Brazil already had Covid-19 deaths before Carnival, according to a study by Fiocruz.
Study estimates first death at the end of January and community transmission at the beginning of February.
247 with AFP - The novel coronavirus had already been circulating in Brazil since at least the beginning of February, before Carnival and the official detection of the first case, according to a study by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz).
According to the study, Covid-19 "began to spread (in the country) approximately in the first week of February," 20 days before the first official diagnosis in São Paulo and 40 days before community transmission was confirmed.
According to the study's coordinator at Fiocruz, Gonzalo Bello, the discovery was made thanks to a statistical methodology followed by retrospective testing of patients.
The organization targeted people who died as a result of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), but who had not yet been diagnosed at the time of death.
While countries in Europe and America were "monitoring passengers and confirming the first imported cases of Covid-19, community transmission (when it is no longer possible to trace the origin of the contagion) was already happening" in Brazil, explained the foundation, a reference in public health in Latin America.