Project shows effects of wildfires on the Amazonian population during the pandemic

The Observatory of Climate and Health of the Institute of Scientific and Technological Communication and Information in Health (ICICT/Fiocruz), in a partnership with InfoAmazonia and the Federal University of Acre, invests in the project Engolindo Fumaça (Swallowing Smoke), a research on the impacts of the pollution resulting from wildfires in the Amazon during the COVID-19 pandemic. The forest fires and wildfires caused for deforestation have been breaking records in recent years. In 2020, a combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and one of the most severe cycles of wildfires and deforestation even seen in the Brazilian Amazon also exposed the population of the areas affected by the fires to the risk of worsening the conditions of patients.

Photo: Marizilda Cruppe/Amazônia Real

According to the results obtained thus far, each day being exposed to an amount of particulate matter above the safe level set by the World Health Organization (WHO), increases the risk of a person infected with Sars-CoV-2 being hospitalized by 2%. The smoke caused by the wildfires was linked to an increase of 18% in COVID-19 hospitalizations, and of 24% in respiratory syndromes hospitalizations in the five states most affected by the wildfires in 2020 (Amazonas, Acre, Rondônia, Mato Grosso, and Pará).

In this scenario, the Rondônia population was the most affected, having an increase of 66% in chances of being hospitalized due to COVID-19 complications, and 92% due to respiratory syndromes. In Mato Grosso, the population of municipalities such as Poconé and Cáceres, are 80% more likely to be hospitalized due to COVID-19 complications, and 115% due to respiratory syndromes.

The results show urgency in taking control measures on fires and deforestation actions in the country, also including this factor in the COVID-19 response.

Read more on InfoAmazonia - Invisible enemies: wildfires’ smoke worse Covid-19 on the Amazon