Covid-19 and International Immigration in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has shown the effect of multiple forms of inequality on the population’s living conditions. Its pattern of dissemination demonstrates that metropolization, a product and producer of human mobility, is a central factor in the expansion of the number of cases and deaths. Brazil, as structurally unequal country, presents important difficulties in understanding the specific way in which Covid-19 affects immigrants, as nationality is not a question of medical and hospital records. This article aims to analyze the impacts of Covid-19 among international immigrants in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo, using data from the survey “Impacts of Covid’s Pandemic on International Migration” (PUC-MG, UNICAMP, 2020). We will address, in particular, the respondents’ socio-demographic profile and the impacts of the pandemic on working conditions and access to rights. Part of a broader study in progress, this article also aims to explain the relationship between epidemiology and human mobility.