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Brazil’s Worst-Hit State Turns to Big Data as Quarantine Wavers

Brazil’s Worst-Hit State Turns to Big Data as Quarantine Wavers

(Bloomberg) -- Sao Paulo, the state at the epicenter of Brazil’s coronavirus cases, is using geo-referenced data provided by the nation’s main telecom firms to monitor the adherence to quarantine measures.

The government is now able to monitor areas where there’s greater movement and concentration of people so it can step in and reinforce the need for social distancing, state secretary for economic development Patricia Ellen said in a press conference Thursday. Firms providing data include Telefonica SA and Telecom Italia SpA’s Brazilian units, as well as Claro SA and Oi SA. The government doesn’t have access to individualized data to protect people’s privacy, she added.

Earlier this week, Governor Joao Doria extended the ongoing quarantine orders until April 22 -- recommending everyone stay at home and shutting most businesses across the state, Brazil’s richest. Doria has been in a public spat with President Jair Bolsonaro, who says that orders to keep stores closed will aggravate the economic fallout from the crisis.

Data show that the social isolation rate in Sao Paulo is currently at 50%, below the optimal level of 70%, the state government said. The rate puts the state’s health system at risk of collapsing just when cases are accelerating in Latin America’s largest economy. As of Wednesday, Sao Paulo accounted for more than half of the 800 coronavirus deaths in Brazil.

Oi, Claro, Telefonica Brasil SA and Tim Participacoes SA didn’t immediately reply to e-mails seeking comment.

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