Brazil’s coronavirus death toll nears 500,000, second highest globally
Mourners stand besides a mass grave at the Nossa Senhora cemetary in Manaus, Amazon state, Brazil. File/AFP
Gulf Today Report
Brazil has had 98,832 new cases of the novel coronavirus reported in the past 24 hours, and 2,495 deaths from COVID-19, the health ministry said on Friday.
The South American country has now registered 17,801,462 cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 498,499, according to ministry data, in the world's third worst outbreak outside the United States and India and its second-deadliest, according to Reuters.
The official COVID-19 death toll in Brazil is about to hit 500,000, the second highest in the world behind the United States.
Official data showed some 2,000 COVID-19 deaths per day in Brazil in the past week, representing one-fifth of the global total. Only 11% of Brazil’s population is fully vaccinated.
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Brazil’s Senate is investigating how the toll got so high, focusing on why President Jair Bolsonaro’s far-right government ignored opportunities to buy vaccines for months while it relentlessly pushed hydroxychloroquine. That’s a malaria drug that rigorous studies have shown to be ineffective in treating COVID-19.
The nationally televised hearings have contained scientific claims, counterclaims and outright falsehoods. The scepticism has extended to the death toll itself, with Bolsonaro arguing the official tally from his own Health Ministry is greatly exaggerated. However, some epidemiologists saying the real death number is significantly higher – perhaps hundreds of thousands higher.
Bolsonaro has waged a 15-month campaign to downplay the coronavirus and keep the economy humming. He dismissed the scourge early on as "a little flu” and scorned masks. He tested positive for COVID-19 last year.
The US recently surpassed 600,000 confirmed deaths.
Associated Press
