A covid-19 pandemic was classified as such by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020, three months after the identification of the first case of the disease in the city of Wuhan, in southeastern China. Since then, the Covid-19, a respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, was present in dozens of countries and infected more than 655 million people, with the highest number of cases in the United States. The North American country also recorded 16% of fatalities from the disease, which caused the death of 6.67 million people on a global scale.
The first case of covid-19 was identified in Brazil in February 2020, and, almost three years later, more than 36 million people had been infected, with 693 thousand death records. Vaccination is today the main way to prevent the disease and to prevent further advances in the virus, which caused profound socioeconomic transformations around the world, notably in the poorest territories.
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Topics of this article
- 1 - Summary about the covid-19 pandemic
- 2 - What is covid-19?
- 3 - Covid-19 pandemic in the world
- 4 - Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil
- 5 - Effects of the covid-19 pandemic
- 6 - Deaths from covid-19
- 7 - History of the covid-19 pandemic
Summary about the covid-19 pandemic
Covid-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
A World Health Organization (WHO) classified covid-19 as a pandemic on March 11, 2020, about three months after the discovery of the first case of the disease.
More than 655 million cases of covid-19 have been registered worldwide as of January 3, 2023.
Brazil had, until January 2, 2023, 36,362,366 confirmed cases of the disease.
The United States, India and France concentrate the highest number of occurrences of the disease.
Covid-19 caused 6,671,624 fatalities worldwide, with the highest number of deaths in the United States, Brazil and India.
Vaccination was primarily responsible for containing the advance of covid-19 in the world.
The covid-19 pandemic resulted in socioeconomic impacts, such as the deepening of social differences, in addition to having implied profound transformations in our daily lives and in interpersonal relationships.
What is covid-19?
Covid-19 is, by definition, a respiratory infection acute caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2, which belongs to the family of coronavirus. It is an easily transmitted virus that affects the respiratory system, causing symptoms such as cough, fever, fatigue, body aches and difficulty breathing.
Some organisms can develop the most severe form of covid-19, while there are people asymptomatic, that is, who do not present any of the symptoms described, despite being infected with the SARS-CoV-2. Due to the similarity of symptoms, covid-19 is, often confused with the the flu common and, for this reason, it is important to carry out laboratory tests, such as PCR, to identify the disease.
It is essential that infected people use masks to prevent transmission of the virus, which happens through droplets emitted in speech, sneezing or coughing. Contact with an infected person or with contaminated surfaces and objects can also lead to an infectious condition.
It should be noted that there is still no specific medicine for the treatment of covid-19. The main way to protect yourself and prevent the advancement of the number of cases, and also the development of new variants of the disease, is vaccination.
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Covid-19 pandemic in the world
O first case of covid-19 was recorded in the month of December 2019, in the city of Wuhan, in southeastern China. Described as a pneumonia, the disease was until then unknown to doctors and scientists, which made its treatment and prevention difficult. More cases of the new pneumonia were being registered in the country, and just under a month later, on January 13, 2020, the first case of covid-19 outside China was identified.
With more than 100,000 cases registered around the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified covid-19 as a pandemic on March 11, 2020.
At the beginning of April of that same year, the world reached 1 million infected people. The peak of the first wave of the covid-19 pandemic in the world was then reached. WHO data indicate that, at the time, approximately 500,000 new cases were confirmed per week, surpassing the mark of 1 million new infections weekly as of mid-June 2020. Concomitant with the growth in the number of cases, deaths caused by the severe form of the disease also increased.
In the first months of the covid-19 pandemic, the countries that recorded the highest number of cases were the following:
China;
South Korea;
Italy;
Japan;
Will.
With the advancement of protective measures, notably the social distancing, O lockdown (or confinement) and also the institution of the use of masks by the population meant that many of these countries, especially China, were able to contain the spread of the disease.
According to the WHO, by 13:57 on January 3, 2023, 655,689,115 cases of covid-19 had been confirmed in the world since the beginning of the pandemic. O European continent accounts for approximately 41% of all cases, followed by America (28%) and the Western Pacific region (16%), which includes countries such as China, Japan and Australia.
See below the list of the 10 countries with the highest number of cases of covid-19 from the beginning of the pandemic until January 3, 2023. Data are from WHO.
Country |
Number of cases of covid-19 |
U.S |
99.423.758 |
India |
44.678.956 |
France |
38.243.932 |
Germany |
37.410.650 |
Brazil |
36.331.281 |
South Korea |
28.931.140 |
Japan |
28.764.223 |
Italy |
25.143.705 |
UK |
24.135.084 |
Russia |
21.810.511 |
Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil
O first case of covid-19 in Brazil was announced on February 26, 2020, in a private hospital in the Sao Paulo City. Since then, the country has faced three waves of the disease, with signs of a fourth wave starting in the second half of 2022, due to the significant increase in the number of infected people.
Covid-19 spread rapidly across Brazil, and in April 2020, the country recorded 50,000 cases of the disease and around 3,000 deaths. In the following month, the records of deaths from the new coronavirus exceeded 700 per day, reaching the level of 1000 daily deaths from the second half of May.
The advance of the pandemic across the national territory led to overcrowding of hospitals and the collapse of the health system in many regions of the country, which resulted in a lack of ICU beds for critically ill patients as well as a shortage of safety materials (PPE) for health professionals and also basic elements for the treatment of patients — as was the case from the oxygen crisis in Manaus, at the state of Aamazons, marked by the lack of oxygen cylinders in hospitals in January 2021.
Later that same year, Brazil experienced the second wave of covid-19, the longest and deadliest to date. In April 2021, the country had more than 13 million infected people and, in addition, broke the sad record of 4211 deaths in a single day.
It was also in 2021 that vaccination began in the country. A first dose of a vaccine covid-19 was applied in Brazil on January 17, and, just over six months later, about 50% of the population had already taken at least one dose of the vaccine. Until December 2022, more than 80% of the Brazilian population were vaccinated with two doses of the vaccine or with the single dose vaccine. In the same period, more than 107 million people had already taken the booster dose, which is equivalent to almost half of the country's population.
Data updated by the Ministry of Health show that, until 5:43 pm on January 2, 2023, Brazil had 36,362,366 confirmed cases of covid-19. O state of São Paulo is the one with the highest number of notifications, followed by Minas Gerais It is bahia. See below for a summary of the number of cases of covid-19 by Greater Region.
Great Region |
Number of confirmed cases of covid-19 |
North |
2.841.824 |
North East |
7.210.265 |
Midwest |
4.169.407 |
Southeast |
14.418.657 |
South |
7.722.213 |
Effects of the covid-19 pandemic
The covid-19 pandemic raised impacts on different spheres of society, beyond health aspects, with repercussions on everyday life, the economy and politics.|1|
The first effects produced were those of a behavioral nature, in view of the WHO protocol measures to reduce the circulation of the virus, such as the lockdown and social distancing, incorporating new habits into everyday life, the expansion of online use at work, in studies, in relationships and also in consumption, and determining the use of safety equipment, such as masks, which helped not only to prevent covid-19 but also other diseases breathing.
There was, on the other hand, the closure of many commercial and business establishments, especially in the branches of tourism and entertainment, due to the lower circulation of people and the low demand for these services as a result of the aforementioned measures. The impact on the economy can also be seen in the increase in layoffs, especially in tertiary sector, and the low or negative growth of the GDP from many countries, some of which are currently in recovery.
As highlighted by world Bank, the covid-19 pandemic deepened socioeconomic inequalities, making the poorest part of the population even more vulnerable. This was due to several factors, such as lack of access to basic sanitation networks; the lack of access also to quality technology and/or internet, which made it difficult for many to continue their studies children and adolescents, bearing in mind that, in the most serious moments of the pandemic, classes began to be taught online; and the decrease in family income, aggravating the situation of poverty and food insecurity.
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deaths from covid-19
The lethality of covid-19, calculated based on the ratio between the number of deaths and the number of confirmed cases, varies according to the country. Considering the global scenario, the disease fatality is 1%, but it can vary between 0.5% and 10%, and may exceed these values in poorer territories.
Covid-19 has caused the death of 6,671,624 people worldwide since the beginning of the pandemic until January 3, 2023, according to WHO data. O American continent was the one that recorded the highest number of deaths, reaching 2,890,955 on that date. Following is Europe, with 2,158,171 deaths.
Taking into account the occurrences by locality, the United States is the country with the highest number of deaths of the entire covid-19 pandemic. There were 1,082,265 deaths, equivalent to 16.2% of all deaths recorded in the world. Brazil comes next, with 693,853 deaths, according to the WHO, or 693,981, according to updated information from the Ministry of Health on 01/02/2023. The lethality of covid-19 in Brazil is 1.9%.
History of the covid-19 pandemic
covid-19 was classified by WHO as a pandemic on March 11, 2020, as we saw. The announcement comes just over three months after an announcement about a new type of pneumonia being identified in patients in the Chinese city of Wuhan. It was on January 9, 2020 that the WHO detected that the respiratory illness was being caused by a new type of coronavirus, later called SARS-CoV-2. Just two days after the publication of the discovery, China reported the first death as a result of covid-19.
Until then present only in China, the Thailand has recorded its first case of covid-19 in January 13, 2020, with another occurrence, this time in Japan, a few days later. While the WHO deepened studies on the disease, new cases were being confirmed. Outside the Asian continent, the United States was one of the first countries to report the presence of the new coronavirus in its territory, which happened on January 22.
One of the main measures to try to contain the spread of covid-19 in the world, now also present in European countries, it was the lockdown or confinement. China was the first country to adopt it, followed by European countries such as Italy, France, Germany, United Kingdom, and also by nations in Oceania and America. During that period, images of large urban centers with empty streets went around the world, and many of these places allowed leaving home just to buy medicine or to go to the hospital or the market to buy essential items.
Other important health recommendations were made by the WHO, such as the use of masks, hand hygiene, including the use of gel alcohol, and social distancing. These protocols were important for preventing and reducing the circulation of the virus, which delayed the appearance of new variants.
To the deaths by covid-19 scaled quickly in the world, initially in Italy, but later reaching very high levels in countries like the United States, Brazil, India, Russia and Mexico, the five countries with the highest number of deaths due to infection.
As the pandemic progressed, researchers around the world looked into the search for a vaccine capable of containing the spread of the disease and protecting our body from its severe form. The first positive results were obtained in 2020. After due process of approval by regulatory bodies, the first dose of a vaccine against covid-19 was applied to a 91-year-old British citizen, person in the risk group, on December 8, 2020. In Brazil, this feat happened on January 17, 2021.
According to WHO, 13,073,712,554 vaccine doses have been administered by January 03, 2023. Approximately 5.5 billion people have been vaccinated with at least one dose of the vaccine against covid-19, and a total of 5,023,237,819 people are fully vaccinated.
Note
|1| FIOCRUZ. Social, economic, cultural and political impacts of the pandemic. Available here.
By Paloma Guitarrara
Geography Teacher
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