Brazil’s first COVID-19 victim 62-year-old man

The first death from the coronavirus in Brazil is that of a 62-year-old man who lived in São Paulo and also suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure. He was admitted at a private hospital on Saturday (Mar. 14) and passed away yesterday (16). He showed the first symptoms on March 10 and had no history of travel.

According to David Uip, coordinator at São Paulo’s Centro de Contingência do Coronavírus—a center specially created to tackle the crisis—four deaths are being scrutinized to ascertain whether they had been infected with the virus. In the case of the 62-year-old patient, Uip remarked he was in the at-risk group due to his age and other illnesses. “The disease manifested itself quickly,” he declared.

Thus far, he went on to say, the exact number of people in a severe state because of the coronavirus cannot be determined, as patients are being treated at private hospitals, which usually do not provide information about their patients. “We have no control over private hospitals at this point. But we need this data from private hospitals,” he said during a private conference this afternoon (17) in São Paulo.