Evidence of the Impact f Socioecnomic Vulnerability in Increase of Covid-19 Pandemic in the City of Manaus

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the relationship between the geographical disposition of cases of COVID-19 occurrences in the city of Manaus and socio-environmental indicators. The data used in the research were: (i) reports made available on the website of the Secretary of Health of the Municipality of Manaus, which stores data regarding the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 and people who died, in the period from March 1st from 2020 to December 9, 2021, including information on gender, age group and race of individuals (illness and death cases); (ii) the platform of the State Secretariat for Economic Development, Science, Technology and Innovation of Amazonas, which provides data on income and population numbers of each neighborhood in Manaus; and (iii) from the portal of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, on subnormal clusters, it was possible to identify information on the internal spatial redistribution in the neighborhoods and the availability of access to public health units and data on socioeconomic indicators. The collected data were spatialized, using the ArcGis software, and statistical analyzes were performed. This study allowed us to observe that in the capital of Amazonas there is a spatial segregation of the population influenced by income and population density and that these socioeconomic variables led to greater illness by COVID-19 in the population living in the most vulnerable areas. As a result, the population residing in these locations suffered from higher rates of death and number of people infected, which culminated in the worsening of the disease. In this sense, public investment in urban infrastructure is essential to promote human health, especially in the face of a pandemic scenario. The historical records of the Municipal Health Department (SEMSA) on the outbreak of COVID-19 in the city of Manaus should serve as a warning so that future actions by the State are favorable to the needs of the population.