More than 8 million could not take a Covid test in the last month, points out Datafolha

Amid the explosion of Covid cases in the country, 8.1 million Brazilians say they have not been able to find tests for the disease in pharmacies or health units in the last 30 days, according to a survey by Datafolha.

The survey was carried out by telephone on January 12 and 13, with 2,023 people aged 16 and over in all states of the country. The margin of error is plus or minus two percentage points.

Of the total number of respondents, 3% claim to have had Covid in the last month, which represents 4 million Brazilians. Among the 97% who reported not having contracted the disease, 5%, representing 8.1 million people, said they could not find the test available.

The country is at risk of a shortage of Covid tests at a time when there is a projection of an escalation of cases, with estimates that Brazil could reach 1.3 million infections per day. The fear has already led Abramed (Brazilian Association of Diagnostic Medicine) to recommend to laboratories that they prioritize testing in patients with more severe symptoms.

Survey made by leaf had already shown that, even in pharmacies, there is a waiting list of up to five days for testing.

The lack of tests causes the country to have a data blackout on Covid, which makes it impossible to know the size of the wave of contamination driven by the omicron variant today.

With high transmission power, the variant has already caused an increase in cases, hospitalizations and deaths in several countries. This is also being observed in Brazil, although without precise data.

Data from the press consortium this Friday (14), collected with the state health departments, show that Brazil recorded 110,037 cases of Covid in 24 hours, the third highest value ever computed in the entire pandemic. The moving average of deaths, which until then was stable, increased by 42% and reached 138 deaths per day.

Experts warn that the underreporting of infections puts the country at risk of a collapse in health care, as, without knowing the speed of transmission, no restriction or planning measures are adopted to deal with the increase in cases.

According to a bulletin released last week by Fiocruz, at least a third of the states are already on critical or intermediate alert for the occupation of public ICU beds for Covid.

The unavailability of tests already affects the country’s public and private networks, which has led even people with symptoms to give up the diagnosis. That’s what happened to publicist Ulhiana Oliveira, 26.

She started to have cough, body pain, sore throat and runny nose on Monday (10) and started a saga to perform the exam. She found a spot in a lab. However, on the day of the exam, he received a message informing him of the suspension of the test.

“I gave up and will stay at home until the tenth day [da doença]”, says she, who lives with her boyfriend, who also didn’t get the exam. “We didn’t take the test because of all this chaos.”

Housewife Roberta Costabile, 48, has also given up on being tested and even on receiving medical attention. She, who lives in Atibaia, in the interior of São Paulo, sought a hospital in the city after having a fever and a sore throat.

In addition to the wait, which could last up to five hours, they informed that they would only do tests in cases with more severe symptoms, such as shortness of breath. “I really gave up,” he says.

​Costabile tried to go to laboratories to do tests, but the wait was too long. “I decided to stay at home and wait in isolation. It’s better to prevent and avoid contaminating others if it’s Covid or influenza”, she says, adding that everyone in her house is vaccinated. “Now, I’m waiting to vaccinate my nine-year-old youngest.”