Compare street life in six major cities in pictures, at different stages of the coronavirus pandemic. It is with this objective that six photojournalists registered for Folha, last week, the daily newspaper of Milan, Jerusalem, Bombay, São Paulo, Manaus and Porto Alegre.
Reflecting the dynamics of virus transmission around the world, each of them faced the worst times of the pandemic at different stages and intensities.
Vaccination now progressing unevenly, they slowly resume their activities, more or less open and adapting to peaks caused by new variants or failures of vaccination.
In Milan, recorded by photographer Rafa Jacinto, Italians have been in the so-called “white phase” since mid-June, but are still forced to wear masks in closed places and open spaces with high concentrations of people.
Lombardy, where Milan is located, was the first region to shock the world due to the devastating effects of Covid-19, with footage of refrigerated trucks to store bodies and reports of deaths left at home for days in due to the lack of staff available for collection.
It was also the first place in Europe to declare a lockdown, in March 2020, imposed a few days later across Italy and followed by other countries.
Now, the Italian government plans to vaccinate 80% of the population by September. Until last week, Italy had around 32% of the population fully immune.
Since the start of the pandemic, 127,600 Italians have died from Covid-19, a rate of 211 deaths per 100,000.
In Jerusalem, photographed by Quique Kierszenbaum, life has almost returned to normal thanks to one of the most successful vaccination campaigns in the world sponsored by the Israeli government.
With around 60% of the population fully immune, Israel lifted almost all movement restrictions as new cases collapsed.
In recent days, however, there has been an increase apparently caused by the arrival of the highly contagious delta variant, which is spreading rapidly among unvaccinated individuals, including children.
Once again, Israel has enforced the use of masks in closed public spaces, and the government has postponed reopening the country to vaccinated tourists, originally scheduled for July 1, until early August.
Israel has recorded around 6,400 deaths since the start of the pandemic and has a rate of 71 deaths per 100,000, among the lowest in the world.
The delta variant that now frightens Israelis was first identified in India. Since April, the country has seen consecutive health system collapses in several cities, especially after the emergence of a new strain, already called delta plus, which is even more contagious.
In Mumbai, the most populous Indian city and photographed by Subhash Sharma for Folha, new cases and deaths from the coronavirus have forced authorities to tighten restrictions.
Essential stores and establishments can stay open until 4 p.m. daily, but non-essentials must close on weekends, as well as restaurants, which can only operate at 50% of capacity.
India is among the countries with the highest suspicion of underreporting of cases and deaths; and the official figure of only 29.3 deaths per 100,000 is considered grossly underestimated.
Despite being a major vaccine manufacturer, only 4.3% of the population is fully immune, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
One of the coronavirus vaccines made in India is Covaxin. In Brazil, it is at the center of a 1.6 billion reais contract signed by the Ministry of Health for the purchase of 20 million doses, via Need Medicines, and which is currently under investigation. by the Covid ICC in the Senate.
The commission suspects the contract, concluded in record time, when the vaccine had not yet had all the data published, and to predict the highest value per dose, around R $ 80 (or US $ 15 each) .
Months earlier, Bolsonaro’s government had rejected proposals for cheaper vaccines already approved in other countries, such as Pfizer, which cost US $ 10 a dose, and the purchase of which could have put the start of the vaccine several months earlier. immunization program in Brazil.
Brazilian cities like São Paulo, Manaus and Porto Alegre, photographed by Danilo Verpa, Bruno Kelly and Daniel Marenco respectively, are still suffering from the effects of the pandemic and the restriction of activities.
Among them, Manaus was the most affected by the pandemic and the first to collapse, in April last year, to later relive a similar trauma, in early 2021, with the lack of oxygen in hospitals.
The city of São Paulo recorded 15.5% more deaths from Covid-19 in the first six months of this year compared to March and December 2020, with a few times when the system struggled to find hospital beds. intensive care for critically ill patients.
The start of 2021 was also difficult for Porto Alegre, where the system collapsed in March due to the lack of intensive care beds, a situation which then reversed with the opening of new places and the advance. vaccination.
Overall, however, vaccination against the coronavirus remains slow in Brazil, with only 13% of the population fully immunized.
Since the start of the pandemic, Brazil has lost more than 520,000 lives due to Covid-19, or nearly 250 Brazilians per 100,000 inhabitants.
Meet the photographers
Quique de Kierszenbaum
Born in Montevideo, he is a Jerusalem-based photojournalist who covers the ongoing conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. His work has appeared in vehicles such as Time and Newsweek Magazine and The Guardian and Financial Times newspapers.
Bruno Kelly
A journalism graduate from the University of Vale do Paraíba, he is a photojournalist and lives in Manaus, where he works for the Reuters news agency and the independent journalism agency Amazônia Real, as well as for newspapers, magazines and magazines. NGOs in Brazil and abroad.
Rafa Hyacinth
Photographer and filmmaker, he began his career as a photojournalist for the newspaper Notícias Populares in 1999. He was part of the team that founded the newspaper Valor Econômico and one of the creators of the Cia de Foto collective. At the end of 2018, he moved to Milan, where he lives and works
Subhash Sharma
Photojournalist shared between Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai, India. Her work has been featured in several publications including Time, Nikkei Japan, Venerdi Italy, Quebec Science, USA, Courrier International Paris, L’Express France, Daily Mail UK and The Mirror.
Daniel Marenco
Graduated in journalism from the University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos, he worked for newspapers such as Zero Hora, O Globo and Folha de S.Paulo. He covered the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Rio Olympics. In 2014, he won the Folha de Jornalismo award.
Danilo Verpa
He worked for 13 years as a photojournalist at Folha de S. Paulo. Participation in national and international coverage of events such as the World Cup, the Olympic Games, the Pan American Games and the Copa America. Received the POY Latam award in 2017