A partisan pandemic: state government public health policies to combat COVID-19 in Brazil

Michael Touchton, Felicia Marie Knaul, Héctor Arreola-Ornelas, Thalia Porteny, Mariano Sánchez, Oscar Méndez, Marco Faganello, Vaugh Edelson, Benjamin Gygi, Calla Hummel, Silvia Otero, Jorge Insua, Eduardo Undurraga, Julio Antonio Rosado, Group from the Observatory for the Containment of COVID-19 in Latin America.

Results Brazil’s national NPI response was the least stringent among countries analysed. In the absence of a unified federal response to the pandemic, Brazilian state policy implementation was neither homogenous nor synchronised. The median NPI was no stay-at-home order, a recommendation to wear masks in public space but not a requirement, a full school closure and partial restrictions on businesses, public transportation, intrastate travel, interstate travel and international travel. These restrictions were implemented 45 days after the first case in each state, on average. Rondônia implemented the earliest and most rigorous policies, with school closures, business closures, information campaigns and restrictions on movement 24 days after the first case; Mato Grosso do Sul had the fewest, least stringent restrictions on movement, business operations and no mask recommendation.

Published online June, 2021. BMJ Global Health

https://gh.bmj.com/content/6/6/e005223.full