Covid-19 rapid test positivity rate drops after seven-week high

After seven straight weeks of highs, the positivity rate of rapid tests for Covid-19 carried out in pharmacies in the country fell again.

According to the Brazilian Association of Pharmacy and Drugstore Networks (Abrafarma), of the 162,600 tests carried out between the 4th and 10th of July, 32.62% (53,000) showed a positive result. It was the lowest rate in the last three weeks. The positivity rate for the previous seven days was 35.18%.

Pará and Pernambuco, both with 43%, were the states with the highest positivity rates. Then appear the states of Sergipe, Tocantins, Piauí, Ceará and Bahia, all of them with a rate of 41%. The states of Rio de Janeiro (22%), Santa Catarina (26%), São Paulo (26%), Paraná (27%) and the Federal District (27%) had the lowest rates of rapid tests with positive results for Covid-19.

In all, from the second week of October 2020 to the last survey, 18.9 million rapid tests were carried out in 4,900 pharmacies in the country. There were 4.4 million positive results, an average rate of 23.7%, and 14.5 million negative results (average of 76.63%).

In this period, the state that presented the highest average of positivity was Amapá (31.97%). Then come Paraíba (31.23%), Amazonas (31%), Roraima (30.63%) and Rio Grande do Norte (30.61%). The lowest rates were in the states of São Paulo (19.58%), Goiás (19.99%) and Sergipe (20.27%), Tocantins (21.95%) and Mato Grosso do Sul (22.28% ).

Decrease in the number of tests performed

For the third week in a row, the absolute number of tests performed in pharmacies dropped. In the week between the 4th and 10th of this month, Abrafarma pointed out that there was the lowest number of Covid-19 tests carried out in pharmacies since the period between May 16th and 22nd of this year, when 141,900 people were diagnosed. .

Overview

According to data released on Tuesday (12) by the National Council of Health Secretaries (Conass), Brazil has surpassed the mark of 33 million cases of Covid-19. There were 64,048 confirmed infections in the last 24 hours and 344 deaths from the virus. Since March 2020, the pandemic has already left 674,102 deaths in the country.

The moving average of deaths, which has been above 200 for 15 days in a row, was 239 this Tuesday. The average number of cases was 56,292 – this number means an increase of 32% in one month. On June 12 the number was 42,504.

These indices consider the last seven days and serve to monitor the indicators of the epidemiological situation in the country without any distortions caused by underreporting on weekends.

(With information from Ingrid Oliveira, from CNN)