COVID-19 denialism in Brazil: a multifactor study

TL;DR

This study analyzes how health, social, demographic, and economic factors, along with political influences, relate to COVID-19 outcomes in Brazilian municipalities, highlighting the impact of government denialism on pandemic mortality.

Contribution

It provides a multifactor analysis linking COVID-19 outcomes to political, social, and economic variables, emphasizing the role of government denialism in Brazil.

Findings

Significant correlations between COVID-19 cases/deaths and 2018 presidential election results.

Estimates of deaths attributable to government denialism.

Identification of social and economic factors influencing pandemic impact.

Abstract

We discuss the relationships between the outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil at the municipal level and different health, social, demographic, and economic indices. We obtain significant correlations between the data gathered for each municipalitiy and the proportion of cases and deaths by COVID-19 and the results by municipality of the 2018 Brazilian presidential election. We obtain different estimates for the number of deaths caused by central government denialism of scientific facts and measures for mitigation of the pandemic and its the historical, economic, and social roots.