Brazil reports 3,650 dead from Covid in one day
Brazil set a fresh daily Covid-19 death toll record of 3,650 on Friday, the health ministry said, as the pandemic spins out of control in Latin America’s greatest economy.
Since February, Brazil has seen record after record in fatalities and new cases of infection as the country second hardest hit all over the world, after the USA, with an increase of than 307,000 dead from the pandemic.
It broke through the threshold of 3,000 fatalities in a single day on Tuesday.
The common daily toll in the last week is 2,400 - more than triple what it was in early January.
The toll has risen steadily because of factors including people’s abandoning social distancing norms and a fresh virus variant that emerged here and is thought to be more contagious than the original strain.
Another big problem is that the country’s vaccination get is moving slowly. So far only 5.9 percent of the population of 212 million has received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine.
President Jair Bolsonaro announced this week he was first launching an emergency committee to handle the pandemic, a good change of lessons amid mounting pressure more than a situation he has repeatedly minimized.
The announcements seemed to do little to tame criticism of Bolsonaro, who has flouted professional advice on lockdowns and face masks, pushed a drug regimen that scientists say can not work, and spoken out against vaccines.
