Dear Reader:

New York City (NYC) is 784 square km, Sao Paulo (not the city, but the Metropolitan area aka Regiao Metropolitana de Dao Paulo, which consists of 39 municipalities): close to 8,000 square km.  NYC has a population of about 8.4 millions, Sao Paulo: about 21 millions. The population density in NYC: about 11 thousands per square km; Sao Paulo: about 3,000 per square km.

Sao Paulo’s area is 10 times greater than that of NYC, but its population is only 2.6 times greater than that of NYC. The population density in NYC is therefore almost 4 times greater than that of Sao Paulo metro.

But not all areas in NYC are equally densely populated: Manhattan is the most populated of the five boroughs (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island) with close to 28 thousands people per square km.

Sao Paulo is way less populated than NYC, but among its 39 municipalities, Sapopemba is the most populated with 22 thousands people per square km (6 thousands less per square km than in Manhattans). Five of the municipalities have 15-16 thousand people per square km, and Parelheiros is the least populated with only 314 people per square km.

Population density is a huge factor when it comes to contagious diseases. Quarantines, lockdowns,  and other forms of social distancing are the counter population density measures.

www. bbc. com/ news/ world latin America, May 18: “The mayor of Brazil’s largest city, Sao Paulo, has said it’s health system could collapse as demand grows for emergency beds to deal with coronavirus cases. Bruno Covas said the city’s public hospitals had reached 90% capacity and could run out of space in two weeks… Sao Paulo is one of the country’s worst- hit regions, with almost 3,000 deaths so far.. Mr. Covas said he was now in talks with the state governor over introducing a strict lockdown to try to prevent hospitals being overwhelmed.. Sao Paulo (the city) has a population of about 12 million, and official figures show most residents are ignoring social distancing rules.

A quarantine in Sao Paulo state was imposed nearly two months ago- businesses, schools and public spaces were closed and people were asked to stay at  home. But there are no costly punishments for those who flout the rules.. A recent rule brought in that made the wearing of masks mandatory is often ignored.. It doesn’t feel as though the virus is being taken seriously… Many are expecting a tougher lockdown in the week ahead”.

anita

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