It is known that COVID-19 has had a worldwide strain on health care. Brazilians have limited access to testing and social security. Due to these difficulties in testing, assessing the growth of the pandemic becomes harder. Similarly limited access to social security can result in a large portion of society not engaging in social distancing. In Brazil, these difficulties have been further complicated due to the unstable federal government, and as a result of this, supporting measures such as physical distancing  and attempting to downplay the gravity of the pandemic have failed. This has been stated in the media: “Brazil: Bolsonaro’s defiance of distancing criticized by the health minister”. From June 23, 2020 onwards, Brazil ranks second worldwide in total number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, with a high estimated rate of transmission. 

Issues already present in Brazilian society (e.g. social disparity, hunger, healthcare crisis) were amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, raising their awareness and causing the Brazilian government to institute changes. The first action taken by the government was to prohibit essential services, like water and electricity, to be stopped due to lack of payment.

The population, due to the rules of social distancing and closing of shops and stores, suffered significant economic issues. Additionally, the federal government provided a plan that offered social security for those vulnerable in the pandemic. Those who are unemployed, over eighteen years old and are registered in the national identification system are eligible to get 600 reais per month, roughly 100 euros. This measure indeed helped those who were not gaining any money. However, the amount is not enough. The base salary in Brazil is about 150 euros, which is already a low sum, indicating that the amount proposed by the government does not cover the individuals’ needs.