Current Life Conditions in Brazil

Hi, generally things for me and my family are fine, I'm in Florianopolis. Clearly can't speak for everyone in the whole country : ) Day to day life is fine, and we are enjoying living here. My kids go to school, cafes and restaurants are functioning, we went to the beach on Sunday etc. However ... 1. No one in my family has serious health issues. I'm not sure I would stay here if they did. 2. I earn outside Brazil, everyone here seems to need 2 jobs to survive, I'm glad I'm not in that position 3. If Lula wins the up coming election I'm afraid things will get worse in terms of the economy and public safety.

There are many opinions. I have seen a great increase in hunger (33% in Brazil cannot afford food. Folha SP) and, high unemployment.
We have just gone into semi-lock down. All things are close from 10 pm to 5 am on weekdays and 17:00 Saturday to 5 am Monday.
There are so many (longer than normal) at banks and Caixa trying to receive the small R$600 the government is providing.
The government calling people idiots for staying inside and wearing masks. Inflation, infrastructure, failing healthcare system has us concerned.
Most Brazilians are warm and friendly and it is a beautiful country.
As of right now I would stay put unless fear being harmed.

Texanbrazil wrote:

There are many opinions. I have seen a great increase in hunger (33% in Brazil cannot afford food. Folha SP) and, high unemployment.
We have just gone into semi-lock down. All things are close from 10 pm to 5 am on weekdays and 17:00 Saturday to 5 am Monday.
There are so many (longer than normal) at banks and Caixa trying to receive the small R$600 the government is providing.
The government calling people idiots for staying inside and wearing masks. Inflation, infrastructure, failing healthcare system has us concerned.
Most Brazilians are warm and friendly and it is a beautiful country.
As of right now I would stay put unless fear being harmed.

Where are you Texanbrazil? I'm in Santa Catarina, I think we need to remember Brazil is very big and the economy varies greatly between states. I'm not doubting what you say but it isn't what I am seeing where I am. I have several very poor friends and they aren't going hungry, lots of charity and cesta basicas being distributed. I fear for other parts of Brazil though, especially the north east.

The main problem I have is that I cannot easily visit my family in the UK, but that's a problem nearly everyone has.

SC has a good rate of recovery from cases. It is a nice state.
If you venture out I believe you will see many needing assistance. I am sure you have a government program giving R$900 to many. Thanks to others many are receiving charity.
Here in Foz do Iguacu we are heavy on the tourism sector and with all lockdowns and decreased air travel many had to leave Parana.
Our ICUs are 100% and we are number 1 in Parana in cases. (Love being #1, but in this case).
We have so many native Brazilians who have no hospitals and rely on small clinics.
Many here are reaching out and supply food banks and necessary items, but it is still not enough. Restaurants were and still are suffering. I believe all should do their part to help. Maybe just stay home and do not have clandestine parties.
We are now seeing our future generation being admitted to the hospitals and dying.
How many "waves" can any city endure?
I have traveled in all areas of Brazil. Just need to read about Amazonia, MG, and even SP and RJ.

05/26/21

Hi, Houston,

As of today, per Folha de S. Paulo, here's the big picture:

-- 2,198 covid deaths yesterday.

-- Case numbers decreasing in these states:
    -- Acre
    -- Amapá
    -- Amazonas
    -- Distrito Federal
    -- Rondônia
   
-- Case numbers increasing in these states:
    -- Mato Grosso do Sul
    -- Paraná ( capital, Curitiba)
    -- Pernambuco
    -- Rio de Janeiro
   -- Rio Grande do Norte

-- Case numbers stable, but usually at a high level, in all other states.

An Indian covid variant has been identified in Brazil, so there is a possibility of further social distancing measures to prevent or limit a "third wave".

The Ministry of Health has lowered its forecast of June vaccine availability by 8.4 million doses.

If you're not vaccinated, I wouldn't recommend coming to Brazil -- anywhere in Brazil -- at this time.  No one coming from abroad should plan on being vaccinated here.

If you're already vaccinated, you'll probably be relatively safe.  Confirm that your health insurance covers you here.  You will still encounter social distancing requirements, and in some states they will become more severe, with limitations on shopping for anything other than food and other necessities, and on entertainment venues of all kind. 

Living in Brazil is still wonderful, this is a very tough moment to try to settle here, though.

Personally, I would wait until 2022 and the election results are known before I made that decision.  You only have to look around to see how quickly conditions can deteriorate after an election.

Brazil's covid death count has now topped half a million people, according to the Wall Street Journal, which has just published an article about how South America has become the pandemic's epicenter.

The reasons, according to WSJ, include poor vaccine response, crowded cities with underserving health care (hello, Lima, Peru), and some countries' decisions to just abandon a covid response
(are you listening, Brazil?).

The gist of the article is reprinted at www.cuencahighlife.com under the title "Now the world's covid hot spot, South America...."

cccmedia wrote:

Brazil's covid death count has now topped half a million people, according to the Wall Street Journal, which has just published an article about how South America has become the pandemic's epicenter.

The reasons, according to WSJ, include poor vaccine response, crowded cities with underserving health care (hello, Lima, Peru), and some countries' decisions to just abandon a covid response
(are you listening, Brazil?).

The gist of the article is reprinted at www.cuencahighlife.com under the title "Now the world's covid hot spot, South America...."

Yes, we hear it every day!!!! We do not need any outside persons or foreign news sent to us. We have newspapers

I have much better access to information inside the USA.  There, I was able to satisfy myself that the death count attributed to covid was wildly exaggerated.  I cannot speak to Brazilian numbers.  Note that the CDC has STILL not published the total death count for 2020 ....but I saw the numbers through Dec 17, 2020 before they deleted them from their website, and those numbers showed a slight decline from 2019 ....sorry to bring politics into this site, but I did not start this discussion ....a sober, balanced view needs to be presented here ....there were people in automobile accidents, and people in gunfights, who were listed as covid deaths because they happened to have had positive tests .....