In Brazil, COVID hitting young people harder

RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) — More young people are dying of COVID-19 in Brazil than other countries, a trend driven partly by demographics — the overall population is younger — but also by poverty and the need to work.

The South American giant of 210 million people is the latest flashpoint in the coronavirus pandemic, rapidly rising to third this week on the list of countries with the most infections.

With more than 310,000 cases, it lags behind only the United States and Russia.

Brazil’s death toll meanwhile surged past 20,000 Thursday.

A closer look at the data raises questions about the widely held idea that COVID-19 is mainly dangerous for the elderly.

Of Brazil’s victims, 69 percent were aged 60 or older, compared with 95 percent in Spain and Italy, according to official statistics.

The disparity is partly driven by the age of the overall populace: just 13.6 percent of Brazil’s population is 60 or older, compared to 25 percent in Spain and 28 percent in Italy.

But demographics do not tell the whole story.

“Since, Brazil has a younger population, it’s normal for the number of cases to be higher among under-60s. But it’s also because young adults are observing stay-at-home measures less,” said Mauro Sanchez, an epidemiologist at the University of Brasilia.

“Young (Brazilians) aren’t responding to the virus differently. It’s because they’re more exposed,” he told AFP.

“What’s perverse is that a lot of the people who are exposing themselves to the virus are doing it because they don’t have a choice.”

The phenomenon has become more pronounced as the pandemic progresses here.

In early April, 19 percent of COVID-19 deaths in Brazil were among under-60s. This week, that figure rose to 31 percent.

Studies based on cell phone location data indicate Brazilians are observing stay-athome measures less and less.