THE EXPANSION OF COVID-19 IN BAIXADA FLUMINENSE – RJ: THEIR PATHS AND SOCIAL EFFECTS ON THE PERIPHERY

Abstract

Introduction: The context of the pandemic of the new coronavirus pointed to the importance of understanding the geographical expansion of this disease, its pathways, and effects, especially in peripheral territories. Objective: To analyze and visualize the impacts of the pandemic on the western periphery of the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro, known as Baixada Fluminense. Methods: Based on the qualitative and quantitative method, we used Covid-19 data provided by the State Department of Health of Rio de Janeiro in the first months of the pandemic [March, April and May of 2020], and performed an analysis of the territorial production of the study region to evaluate the effects and impacts of the advance of this disease. Results: Construction of heat maps of the incidence of Covid-19 by the neighborhoods of the municipalities of Baixada Fluminense that demonstrated the centralities and pathways of the disease through the peripheral territories, and production of graphs with the number of contaminated and new cases in a comparative perspective of part of the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro. Conclusion: The geographical expansion of the new coronavirus has revealed that the metropolitan peripheries are privileged spaces of contamination, the data presented show a rapid growth in the number of cases in these areas. Moreover, the highest incidence corresponds to the territories that present the traffic lane of metropolitan, greater centrality in the context of the municipalities, great population density and greater economic and social vulnerability.