Evolution of indicators and service capacity at the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic in Northeast Brazil, 2020

Abstract

Objective: to describe the evolution of indicators and capacity for health care in the initial phase of the COVID-19 epidemic in the Northeast region of Brazil. Methods: this was a descriptive study based on COVID-19 case epidemiological bulletins released by the Ministry of Health up until April 1st, 2020. The incidence rate, lethality and number of cumulative daily cases were calculated. Results: 1,005 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were identified, most of them in Ceará and Bahia states. The incidence rate was 1.8/100,000 inhabitants and lethality was 2.7%. Ceará was the state with the highest number of cases, with 29.6 new cases per day on average. Average intensive care bed availability in the Northeast region (1.04/10,000 inhab.) was below the national average (2.8/10,000 inhab.). Conclusion: the indicators suggest that COVID-19 impact is heterogeneous and signal the challenges for health systems in the Northeast Region.