Brazil’s Covid-19 Death Toll Passes Britain’s, Bolsonaro Presses Normality

HAVANA TIMES – Deaths related to Covid-19 in Brazil rose to 41,828 on Friday, overtaking Britain’s fatality total, reported dpa news.

As of Friday night, Britain’s death toll from the disease stood at 41,481, according to government figures.

The new data put the Latin American nation in second place globally in terms of deaths, behind the United States.

Brazil’s Health Ministry also reported 25,982 new cases in 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections to almost 829,000, trailing only the US – where over 2 million cases have been confirmed.

Many coronavirus-related restrictions were being relaxed in Brazil despite the daily number of deaths hovering around the 1,000 mark for four consecutive days.

Shops and beaches were reopened while long lines formed outside shopping centres in the city of Sao Paulo.

Last weekend, Brazil’s government stopped publishing cumulative statistics on the disease, prompting a Supreme Court order forcing it to resume the publication of the data.

The government’s attempt not to publish the full figures prompted accusations of censorship after President Jair Bolsonaro had already come under fire for downplaying the pandemic and opposing lockdowns in order to revive the economy.