Increasing molecular diagnostic capacity and COVID-19 incidence in Brazil.
Rejane Maria Tommasini GrottoRodrigo Santos LimaGabriel Berg de AlmeidaClaudia Pio FerreiraRaul Borges GuimarãesMicheli PronunciateEdmur AzevedoRafael de Castro CatãoCarlos Magno Castelo Branco FortalezaPublished in: Epidemiology and infection (2020)
Different countries have adopted strategies for the early detection of SARS-CoV-2 since the declaration of community transmission by the World Health Organization (WHO) and timely diagnosis has been considered one of the major obstacles for surveillance and healthcare. Here, we report the increase of the number of laboratories to COVID-19 diagnosis in Brazil. Our results demonstrate an increase and decentralisation of certified laboratories, which does not match the much higher increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. Also, it becomes clear that laboratories are irregularly distributed over the country, with a concentration in the most developed state, São Paulo.