INTRAREGIONAL PROPAGATION OF COVID-19 CASES IN PARá, BRAZIL. ASSESSMENT OF ISOLATION REGIME TO LOCKDOWN

Abstract Due to the high incidence of COVID-19 case numbers internationally, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a Public Health Emergency of global relevance, advising countries to follow protocols to combat pandemic advance through actions that can reduce spread and consequently avoid a collapse in the local health system. On March 18, 2020, Pará notified the first case of COVID-19. After seven weeks, the number of confirmed cases reached 4,756 with 375 deaths. Knowing that infected people may be asymptomatic, the disease symptomatology absence and the population’s neglect of isolation influence the spread, and factors such as chronic pneumonia, high age, obesity, chronic kidney diseases and other comorbidities favor the mortality rate. On the other hand, social isolation, quarantine and lockdown seek to contain the intraregional contagion advance. This study analyzes the dynamics of COVID-19 new cases advance among municipalities in the state of Pará, Brazil. The results show it took 49 days for 81% of the state’s municipalities to register COVID-19 cases. The association between social isolation, quarantine and lockdown as an action to contain the infection was effective in reducing the region’s new cases registration of COVID-19 in the short-term.