To reduce transmission of the coronavirus, the Brazilian government adopted containment measures to control the virus’ spread, including limitations to the practice of physical activity. It was aimed to analyze the effects of COVID-19 quarantine on physical activity levels, energy expenditure, quality of life, and level of stress in a sample of the Brazilian population. The sample included 426 participants (7 to 80 years). The International Physical Activity Questionnaire, Short form survey-36 (SF-36), and Stress Perception Scale, were used to assess the level of physical activity, quality of life and stress, respectively. The anthropometric data was used to the assessment of body mass index and basal metabolic rate. Body weight increased significantly in all sample (p < 0.05). During the pandemic, 84% of the sample indicated a low level of physical activity. Furthermore, weekly energy expenditure decreased significantly in all age groups during the pandemic (children p < 0.0001; adolescents: p < 0.0001; adults p < 0.001, and elderly p < 0.0001). All aspects of quality of life, significantly reduced in both sexes in all age groups (p < 0.05). With the exception of children, stress levels increased significantly during the pandemic (adolescents: male: p = 0.003, female: p < 0.05; adults: male: p = 0.003, female: p = 0.01, and elderly: male: p = 0.02, female: p = 0.03). Findings from the present study suggests that COVID-19 social isolation has negatively affected Brazilian’ physical activity and quality of life.
In the present study, we provide a retrospective genomic epidemiology analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We gathered publicly available data from GISAD and sequenced more 1,927 new genomes sampled periodically from March 2021 to June 2021 from 91 out of the 92 cities of the state. Our results showed that the pandemic was characterized by three different phases driven by a successive replacement of lineages. All stages occurred in distinct mortality and mobility contexts, with higher evidence of social distancing measures being observed in early pandemic and relaxed in the last two phases. Interestingly, we noticed that viral supercarriers accounted for the overwhelming majority of the circulating virus (> 90%) among symptomatic individuals in the state. Moreover, SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance also revealed the emergence and spread of two new variants (P.5 and P.1.2) firstly reported in this study. Altogether, our findings provided important lessons learned from the different epidemiological aspects of the SARS-CoV-2 dynamic in the state of Rio de Janeiro that have a strong potential to shape future decisions aiming to improve public health management and understanding mechanisms underlying virus dispersion.
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