Public policies to tackle COVID-19 in Curitiba-PR and Fortaleza-CE:

A comparative study

Abstract

Context: During health crises, such as the one caused by COVID-19, the urgency of decision-making alters the information processing process, requiring measures based on scientific evidence and respect for human rights. The aim of this study was to characterize the development of the pandemic in Curitiba - PR and Fortaleza - CE, taking into account confirmed cases, deaths and the main actions taken by the public authorities. Methods: Based on the analysis of health databases obtained from official online portals, the trend curves of COVID-19 incidence and mortality rates during 2020 to 2022 in the municipalities were calculated, represented and compared, and associated with the analysis of the actions adopted, which had 620 regulations for Curitiba and 351 for Fortaleza as a starting point. Conclusions: In terms of public policies, although the capitals focused on administrative and economic aspects, they had little emphasis on health and education and differed in their actions on socio-economic issues, reflecting different strategies and local needs. A greater number of actions at the start of the pandemic may have delayed the collapse of the health system in Curitiba. In Fortaleza, on the other hand, there was a sharp peak in mortality between March and June 2020, which shows that the actions taken at the start of the pandemic were not enough to contain the crisis in the health system. This number begins to decrease as more public policies are adopted in the following months.