“Flattening the curve”: effective measures from Niterói city (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) for COVID-19 control

“Achatando a curva”: medidas eficazes da cidade de Niterói (RJ, Brasil) para o controle da COVID-19

Abstract

Background

In Brazil, some local city government’s adopted several measures, which probably had a positive impact on COVID-19 control.

Objective

To report the distribution of COVID-19 cases in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro state and Niterói city. In parallel, we aimed to demonstrate the preventive strategies adopted by Niterói city.

Method

Data provided by the Brazilian Ministry of Health and Municipal Health Foundation of Niterói were used to report COVID-19 cases and deaths. For some analysis, data were grouped by week and normalized for 100,000 inhabitants.

Results

By July 18^th, 2020, Brazil reported 2,074,860 cases and 78,772 deaths and Rio de Janeiro state registered 135,230 cases and 11,919 deaths; both still presenting ascendant curves for COVID-19 deaths. In contrast, the rate of new deaths per 100,000 inhabitants is consistently lower in Niterói city. Importantly, we estimated that 712 deaths were prevented by the measures adopted by Niterói city, in comparison to which was observed in Rio de Janeiro.

Conclusion

The early preventive measures adopted in Niterói city were effective in reducing both the viral spread and rate of deaths. In this regard, this discussion could be relevant for making future decisions during the COVID-19 outbreak in Brazil.

Keywords:
coronavirus disease 2019; preventive measures; Niterói city; Brazil