With the advancement of the Ômicron variant of the new coronavirus and localized outbreaks of Influenza A, the search for tests for Covid-19 has exploded in the country. On January 10 and 11, the Brazilian Association of Pharmacy and Drugstore Chains (Abrafarma) recorded two consecutive testing records.
In each of them, more than 75,000 people took the exams, which showed a positivity rate of 36.63%, the highest since the beginning of the pandemic observed in a single day. The numbers are from the entity, obtained from the Clínica RX platform.
The numbers on the 10th and 11th are unprecedented and will be used in Abrafarma’s weekly balance sheet next Wednesday (19), whose panel is updated weekly. This weekly average is taken from Monday to Sunday and published on Wednesdays.
In the last panel released yesterday (12), equivalent between the 3rd to the 9th of January, Abrafarma recorded that 482,126 people were tested for the disease in pharmacies, an increase of 70% compared to the previous week. Of this total, 145,673 had a positive diagnosis for Covid, and an average of 30.21%.
For Sérgio Barreto, CEO of Abrafarma, the numbers show that the pandemic is at its peak of cases, which is reflected in the high rate of positives and the immense search for Covid-19 exams. However, according to him, despite the occasional lack of test stock in some networks, there is no general lack of these inputs in the country.
Even so, in Rio de Janeiro, several private laboratories suspended the scheduling of tests against Covid-19 on Wednesday (12) due to the lack of supplies.
To avoid shortages, the Brazilian Association of Diagnostic Medicine (Abramed), responsible for more than 65% of exams in the private network, decided to change the indications for carrying out tests, giving priority to patients with severe symptoms or at high risk if they contract the disease.
The State Health Department of Rio (SES) reported that the Ministry of Health will deliver over 450,000 rapid antigen tests to the folder this Thursday (13). In addition to the quantitative, SES also informed, through a note, that “it sent a letter last Thursday (6) to the ministry requesting another 2.1 million rapid tests to meet the demand of January and February (900 thousand for the capital and 1.2 million for the other municipalities)”.
Check out guidelines from the Ministry of Health in the face of the diagnosis of Covid-19:
Reference: CNN Brasil