The work compared the results of the vote in the 2018 presidential election in Minas Gerais, the second most populous state in the country (southeast region), with the rates of infection and mortality from covid-19 at the municipal level.
The conclusion was that the disease hit hardest in areas that voted for the far-right president, who ran over expert advice to prevent the spread of the virus.
“Bolsonaro has denied the seriousness of covid-19, promoted treatments without proof of efficacy, and discouraged social distancing, the use of masks, the closure of premises and other protective measures,” said study co-author Carlos Starling of the Society. of Specialists in Infectious Diseases of Minas Gerais.
That “has likely resulted in higher rates of infection and deaths from Covid-19 among his supporters,” he added in a statement.
The study, which analyzed data from January 21 to November 10 of last year, established that the infection rates were 30% higher in the municipalities where Bolsonaro won in 2018: 7,600 per 100,000 inhabitants, on average. Mortality rates, meanwhile, were 60% higher: 212 per 100,000 people.
The government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the study.
Covid-19 has claimed more than 660,000 lives in Brazil, second only to the United States in absolute numbers.
However, the weekly death toll has fallen sharply with 75% of Brazil’s 213 million people fully immunized, despite repeated anti-vaccine comments from Bolsonaro.
Starling and bioinformatics expert Braulio Couto will present the still unpublished study this month at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Lisbon, whose selection committee reviewed their findings.
The work obtained similar results to another published in March in the medical journal The Lancet, which compared the results of the 2018 Brazilian elections throughout the country with the mortality rates of covid-19 and also concluded that the municipalities that voted for Bolsonaro fared worse in the pandemic.
Bolsonaro, who will seek reelection in October, has faced criticism for his handling of the covid-19 pandemic, which he described as a “little flu.” A Senate commission recommended last October that he be indicted on criminal charges, including crimes against humanity, for his response to the health crisis.
The entrance Study in Brazil links support for Bolsonaro with higher mortality from covid was first published in diary TODAY.
