Brazil breaks record again with over 4,000 COVID-19 deaths in 24 hours
Raw data showing Brazilian COVID-19 death rates (Credit: Ministry of Health, Brazil)
Kaieteur News – Brazil, Guyana’s neighbor to the South, once again broke its COVID-19 death toll record, when it recorded over 4,000 deaths in just 24 hours on Tuesday. Data released by his Ministry of Health showed that 4,195 new deaths were recorded. The country is ranked second in the world in terms of COVID-19 deaths, with the United States of America (USA) in first place.
The last death toll entry broken by Brazil was on March 23, when it recorded 3,251 deaths.
The surge in cases and deaths, suspected to be due to the aggressive “P.1” / Brazilian circulation variant, has left the country’s health system extremely overwhelming with hospitals nearing their point break. With the new deaths recorded on Tuesday, the country’s death toll was pushed to 337,000.
It was reported by Reuters that the Brazilian healthcare system is now at breaking point, exceeding the US death toll of 555,000. This is despite Brazil having a population that is two-thirds of the United States, according to two experts who spoke to Reuters.
One of the experts, Miguel Nicolelis, a Brazilian doctor and professor at Duke University, who is closely tracking the virus, said, “It’s a nuclear reactor that has triggered a chain reaction and (is) out of control. It’s a biological Fukushima. ”Fukushima is a reference to the nuclear power station disaster that happened in Fukushima, Japan.
Despite the alarming death rate in Brazil, its President Jair Bolsonaro has ignored global criticism for its treatment of the pandemic. He has been labeled a “genocide” since he opposed some public health protection measures such as wearing face masks and strict locks.
Previously, six states had reported worrying levels of medical oxygen supplies. The President also reported, on March 23, the very day on which the 3,000 record-breaking cases were reported, saying, “very soon we will resume our normal lives.”
On that day he also sworn in cardiologist Marcelo Queiroga as the fourth health minister since the pandemic began.
At one point, the Brazilian authorities were urged to build a national response that was expected to lead to the closure of non-essential businesses in every province but two for 14 days, but President Bolsonaro was firmly convinced that “the collateral damage to The economy brought about by restrictions is worse than the effects of the virus itself. ”
In addition, it had tried to prevent local authorities imposing protective measures, but that was blocked by the Supreme Court.