Deaths due to COVID-19 in Brazil: how many are there and which are being identified?

COVID-19 was initially notified in February 2020, in Brazil, and the first death was reported on March 171. Since then, national spread has been rapid, with over 9,000 deaths reported less than two months later2. These deaths refer to people who tested positive for the polymerase chain reaction test (PCR), which detects the genetic material of SARS-CoV-2 and establishes the presence of the virus. This figure, however, represents only the tip of the iceberg, because the PCR test has been performed with priority on hospitalized patients under suspicion of having the disease and, in some states, as a post-mortem exam3. It can be deduced that there are certainly many deaths from suspected cases without a confirmed diagnosis. Thus, two major challenges are how to estimate the degree of underreported deaths due to COVID-19 and what the actual number is.