BRASÍLIA – Brazil yesterday passed the bleak marker of 150,000 deaths from Covid-19, said the Health Ministry, as the rate of infections continues to slow in the South American country.
The toll comes as Latin America and the Caribbean yesterday marked 10 million cases and more than 360,000 deaths. The region is the worst hit in terms of fatalities, according to official figures.
With 212 million inhabitants, Brazil has accumulated the majority of the region’s coronavirus deaths: 150,198 since the first fatality was recorded in March, and 5,082,637 infections, said the ministry.
It is the second-highest death toll in the world after the US, which has recorded more than 213,000 fatalities, and the third-highest number of infections after the US and India.
In Latin America, Brazil is followed by Colombia, with 894,300 cases and 27,495 deaths, Argentina (871,455 cases and 23,225 deaths) and Peru (843,355 cases and 33,158 deaths).
Mexico, although with fewer cases at 809,751, has suffered a high number of deaths – the fourth-highest in the world – with the toll currently 83,507.
Brazil’s tally has been falling slowly since it plateaued over the summer, which saw an average of 1,000 deaths per day for two months.
But, experts said the fall is slow compared with countries in Europe and Asia, suggesting that Brazil may still be in its first wave of the virus.
From the beginning, Brazil has faced the pandemic with its leaders divided.
President Jair Bolsonaro has downplayed the disease from the start, despite contracting it himself, and insists on a return to normalcy to prevent an economic collapse.
In contrast, state governors and mayors applied social-distancing measures at the beginning of the crisis – though with the pandemic hitting the economy, they have begun loosening the restrictions in recent months.
Since it emerged in China late last year, Covid-19 has killed more than one million worldwide, infected more than 36 million, and forced millions more out of work. – AFP, October 11, 2020
