Microdata are the lowest level of data disaggregation in a survey, portraying, in the form of numeric codes, the content of the questionnaires, keeping data confidentiality. Microdata allow users specialized in programming languages or calculation software to create their own tables.
The present microdata files come together with documentation that provides the names and respective codes for variables and their categories.
This survey aims at estimating the number of persons with symptoms associated with the flu syndrome and at following up the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Brazilian labor market.
The data collection of the National Household Sample Survey - PNAD COVID19 began on May 4, 2020, with interviews by telephone in nearly 48 thousand households per week, adding up to nearly 193 thousand households per month in the entire National Territory. The sample is permanent, i.e., the households interviewed in the first month of data collection will remain in the sample along the next months, up to the end of the survey.
The questionnaire is divided into two parts, one directed to health issues, specifically on symptoms associated with the flu syndrome, and the other, to labor issues. The health issues investigate the occurrence of some of the major symptoms of COVID19 in the reference period of the survey, taking into account all the residents of the household. Those who showed any symptom are asked what were the actions taken for the relief of the symptoms; whether they sought any medical attendance due to these symptoms; and the type of health establishment sought. The labor issues aim at ranking the population at working age in the following categories: employed, unemployed and persons out of the workforce. The following aspects are also investigated: employment and activity; work leave and reason for leaving; home office; search for work; reason for not searching for work; weekly hours effectively and usually worked; as well as the effective and usual earnings from labor. Aiming at completing the household earnings, the residents are asked whether they received any earnings not coming from labor, such as: retirement, BPC-LOAS, Bolsa Família, any emergency aid related to COVID, unemployment insurance, rental and others. It should be highlighted that PNAD COVID19 is a survey with a dynamic data collection; therefore, the questionnaire is subject to changes along the application period.
The survey releases some indicators on a weekly basis, at Brazil level, and a wider set of indicators on a monthly basis, for Federation Units.
The pioneering results of PNAD COVID19 are the first release of Experimental Statistics produced by the IBGE, which are in line with the modernization strategy of the institution, thus allowing to improve the supply of information to meet the needs of the users.