World

Brazil Covid-19 pandemic deaths hit record high

Thursday, May 21st, 2020 00:00 | By
Brazilian soldiers disinfect a train carriage as a measure against the spread of coronavirus in Rio de Janeiro in March. Photo/AFP

Rio de Janeiro, Wednesday

Brazil has seen a record number of coronavirus deaths as the pandemic that has swept across the world begins to hit Latin America with its full force.

After Asia, Europe and North America, Latin America has seen coronavirus infections surge in recent days and now accounts for about 580,000 of the world’s nearly five million confirmed cases.

Brazil has been hardest-hit in the region, rising to the third-highest number of cases in the world, as Peru, Mexico and Chile also see steady increases in infections.

Health officials in Brazil reported 1,179 new coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, the first time the daily toll exceeded 1,000, but far-right President Jair Bolsonaro remains bitterly opposed to lockdowns, having described them as unnecessary over a “little flu”.

With the outbreak in the world’s sixth-largest country expected to accelerate until early June, many Brazilians are deeply worried about the next few weeks.

“Our country is going from bad to worse,” said retiree Gilberto Ferreira in Rio de Janeiro.  “We have an inefficient government, and the people also do not obey the rules of the pandemic.”

Bolsonaro has refused to accept experts’ advice on responding to the pandemic, pressing regional governors to end stay-at-home measures. 

And like US counterpart Donald Trump he has also promoted the use of anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine against the virus despite studies showing it has no benefit.

Chile is also suffering from a sharp rise in cases and on Tuesday deployed soldiers on the outskirts of its locked-down capital Santiago after clashes with protesters angry about food shortages and job losses.

Lack money

“People don’t have work, they don’t have money and they don’t have food,” said Monica Sepulveda, a 46-year-old unemployed security guard from El Bosque, a working class neighbourhood where residents armed with clubs and stones clashed with riot police.

There were worrying signs in Argentina too, with authorities in the second city Cordoba having to backtrack on easing lockdown measures following a sharp spike in infections.

Experts have been warning for weeks of the devastating impact the pandemic is set to have as it moves from northern countries to the less-developed south. 

In Africa, the pandemic is still in its “early days”, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned, calling for “global solidarity” with the continent.

“The pandemic threatens African progress,” he said.   “It will aggravate longstanding inequalities and heighten hunger, malnutrition and vulnerability to disease,” Guterres added, calling for international action to support Africa’s health systems and maintain food supplies.

Europe is meanwhile hoping the worst is behind it, with the number of new cases and deaths on a steady decline after the continent suffered nearly 170,000 fatalities from the pandemic. 

The global toll now stands at more than 323,000, according to an AFP tally. 

Lockdown measures in place for weeks are being eased and officials are scrambling to try to save the summer tourism season, which is crucial for Europe’s economies. 

European Union tourism ministers were set to hold a virtual meeting Wednesday and authorities in Greece were to announce plans for reopening the country to travel.

Russia reported its highest daily death toll to date, registering 135 fatalities, but also saw the number of active virus cases drop for the first time.

Pressure is also building in the United States, the world’s worst-hit country with nearly 92,000 deaths and more than 1.5 million cases, for an end to confinement measures that have hammered the economy and left tens of millions unemployed.

Trump is especially keen to reopen businesses ahead of an election due in November, and his Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned the American economy risks suffering “permanent damage” the longer the lockdown continues. -AFP 

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