COVID-19 Cases in Brazil Top 3.4 Million; Deaths Nearing 110,000

Coronavirus cases in Brazil have topped 3.4 million, making it the second worst-hit country in the world. Data from the Health Ministry of Brazil revealed on Tuesday that the country had already recorded 3,407,354 cases and 109,888 deaths since the pandemic struck the country in February.

47,784 new cases of the new coronavirus and 1,352 deaths from the disease were reported in Brazil in the past 24 hours. The country is now the most affected by COVID-19 in Latin America and the second in the world, next to the United States.

When the first case of the coronavirus was reported in Brazil on Feb. 26, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro derided the warning of experts and downplayed COVID-19 as “a little flu.” After flouting social distancing guidelines, he contracted the virus himself.

In March, several cities in Brazil adopted social distancing measures to curb the spread of the pandemic. However, the eventual lifting of quarantine rules triggered a new surge in cases. Mayors and governors across the country, under pressure from Bolsonaro, loosened isolation orders even as the number of confirmed infections spiked.

Amid the pandemic, the Health Ministry of Brazil continues to be run on an interim basis by Eduardo Pazuello, an army general without any medical background. He was called as interim health minister on May 16 but there is still no clear indication whether Bolsonaro will officially appoint him as health minister or swap him out.

Pazuello’s lack of medical experience has been a major concern among Brazilians. When he took on the role of interim health minister, Brazil had about 230,000 coronavirus cases and 15,633 deaths. Three months after his interim appointment, the number of cases skyrocketed to 3.3 million and deaths to 107,000.

According to former health minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta, the number of cases and deaths in Brazil should not surprise Bolsonaro government. “I think that he didn’t want to believe it,” he said. “He just wants people to say what he wants to hear. So he did what he just wanted, and he decided to take this very dangerous path, putting the whole country into it,” he added.