The number of positive test cases for Covid continues to fall in pharmacies, according to monitoring by Abrafarma, an association of pharmaceutical retail, which has been following the trajectory since the launch of the service at the beginning of the pandemic.
The month ended with a volume 65% below that recorded in January.
According to the survey released this Monday (14), pharmacies performed more than 1.1 million visits last month and detected the coronavirus in about 350 thousand customers. In January, when the record number of cases was reached, there were 984,000 positives.
The president of Abrafarma, Sérgio Mena Barreto, says that the fall points to a return to the level before the end of the year, however, the proportion of cases per region is inconsistent. Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul, for example, maintain the number of positive cases much higher than São Paulo and Rio.
The month of March brings a different scenario because, now, self-tests are sold in Brazilian pharmacies. But the balance should continue at the same pace, according to Abrafarma’s forecasts.
According to the entity’s data, until the 6th of this month, the percentage of cases is the lowest since the end of December, when the ômicron advanced in the country. The results of the self-test are not reported to any agency, so they will not appear in the survey.
Joana Cunha with Andressa Motter and Ana Paula Branco
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