Demand for Covid exam grows after carnival – 02/17/2024 – Health

Large pharmacy chains and diagnostic laboratories have registered an increase in demand for Covid tests in recent weeks, especially the most recent one, which coincided with Carnival. The city had already been recording an increase in confirmed cases of the disease, and experts warned of a likely increase in infections during the festive period.

Dasa, which brings together brands such as Delboni and Lavoisier, identified an increase not only in demand, but also in the positivity rate. The number of tests carried out in the week between February 6th and 12th, in the middle of Carnival, exceeded the previous week’s figure by 37%. The proportion of positives grew by 4.5%.

The RaiaDrogasil group, which has 2,900 pharmacies across the country, saw a 25% increase in both exams carried out by pharmacists and sales of self-tests – these, according to the company, are currently the most sought after. The chain even registered occasional shortages of the product with the increase in demand. The average positivity rate is 30%.

The pharmacy chains Pague Menos and Extrafarma also confirmed an increase in tests and positive results, and estimate that the demand for testing will grow even more in the coming days.

The Fleury group said that it did not observe a significant difference in the volume of tests in its laboratories, while the positive rate had a small drop (less than 0.5%). Infectious disease specialist Celso Granato, clinical director of the company, explains that the effects of Carnival will be better measured next week.

“It is important to highlight that Carnival has not yet ended, as Covid’s incubation period, unlike the flu, is much longer – from 4 to 7 days – it is possible that people who became infected during Carnival are not even sick yet and will only come to take the exam in 5 or 7 days”, says Granato.

As shown by Sheet, the capital of São Paulo recorded a 140% increase in positive Covid cases in the space of two weeks. The weekly moving average went from 168 cases on January 21st to 404 on February 4th, according to data from the Municipal Health Department analyzed by the SP Covid-19 Infotracker platform.

The numbers, according to experts, are underreported, as many people get sick and are content with self-testing. As the patient does not go to the doctor, the disease is not included in the official count.

Laboratories and hospitals were already recording an increase in the rate of positive Covid tests. According to Abramed (Brazilian Association of Diagnostic Medicine), January of this year closed with a 26% confirmation rate, double the figure recorded in the same month of 2023 (13%).

At Hospital Albert Einstein (SP), the increase in positive tests in the first five weeks of this year was 43% (707 against 1,013) compared to the same period in 2023.

Although Covid will no longer be a health emergency since 2023, and, with the high rate of vaccination, patients with the disease have increasingly milder symptoms, similar to flu or sinusitis, the Ministry of Health says that the protocol to be followed remains the same.

According to the most recent note, measures such as isolation, use of masks and sanitary hygiene remain important, “especially for those people at greater risk of developing serious illness, and to reduce the chances of developing post-Covid conditions with each new infection “.