Social distancing measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic: potential impacts and challenges in Brazil

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged researchers and policy makers to identify public safety measures forpreventing the collapse of healthcare systems and reducingdeaths. This narrative review summarizes the available evidence on the impact of social distancing measures on the epidemic and discusses the implementation of these measures in Brazil. Articles on the effect of social distancing on COVID-19 were selected from the PubMed, medRXiv and bioRvix databases. Federal and state legislation was analyzed to summarize the strategies implemented in Brazil. Social distancing measures adopted by the population appear effective, particularly when implemented in conjunction with the isolation of cases and quarantining of contacts. Therefore, social distancing measures, and social protection policies to guarantee the sustainability of these measures, should be implemented. To control COVID-19 in Brazil, it is also crucial that epidemiological monitoring is strengthened at all three levels of the Brazilian National Health System (SUS). This includes evaluating and usingsupplementary indicators to monitor the progression of the pandemic and the effect of the control measures, increasing testing capacity, and making disaggregated notificationsand testing resultstransparentand broadly available.摘要 新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）大流行对研究者与政策制定者均提出了严峻挑战，亟需出台可防范医疗体系崩溃、降低死亡人数的公共安全防控举措。本叙述性综述梳理了社交距离措施对疫情影响的现有研究证据，并探讨了此类措施在巴西的落地实践。 本综述从PubMed、medRXiv及bioRvix数据库中筛选了有关社交距离措施对COVID-19影响的相关文献，并通过分析巴西联邦与州级立法文件，梳理了该国已推行的防控策略。 民众主动采取的社交距离措施显现出良好防控效果，尤其是在配合病例隔离与密切接触者检疫的场景下。因此，需推行社交距离措施，并配套制定社会保护政策以保障此类措施的可持续性。 为在巴西开展COVID-19疫情防控工作，强化巴西国家卫生系统（SUS）三级架构的流行病学监测同样至关重要，具体包括：评估并采用补充指标以监测疫情发展态势与防控措施成效、提升检测能力，以及公开并广泛推送分维度的疫情通报与检测结果。