Tag: Brazil

Brazil surpasses 2 million coronavirus cases: official

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil topped two million coronavirus cases on Thursday, according to official data that put the number of deaths at more than 76,000. Figures published by the health ministry showed there were more than 45,000 new cases over the last 24 hours, and an extra 1,300 deaths. Brazil is the second worst affected country in the world by the coronavirus after the United States. And these figures are considered largely […]

Brazil’s Bolsonaro tests positive for coronavirus again

BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro tested positive for coronavirus again, CNN Brazil said on Wednesday, quoting the far right leader, who underwent a new test on Tuesday. Bolsonaro, who at 65 is in a high risk group, said he would remain in quarantine at his official residence in Brasilia from where he would continue to work by video conference. The far-right president, who has caused huge controversy in Brazil for repeatedly flouting […]

Brazil’s skeptical president has virus, US starts WHO withdrawal

  by Louis GENOT with AFP bureaus Agence France Presse Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has consistently downplayed the risks of coronavirus, announced Tuesday he has tested positive, as the United States — the nation hardest hit by the pandemic — formally launched its withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO). The UN health agency meanwhile acknowledged that there was “emerging evidence” of airborne transmission of COVID-19, which has infected nearly 11.7 million people around […]

Brazil to become testing ground for coronavirus vaccine

by Louis GENOT RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil may be struggling in its battle against the coronavirus, but it is on the cutting edge of vaccine development with large-scale trials and the production of millions of doses on the horizon. COVID-19 is spreading rapidly across the Latin American nation — a situation underlined when President Jair Bolsonaro tested positive on Tuesday — creating the necessary conditions for testing a vaccine’s efficiency. Brazil, which […]

Brazil’s Bolsonaro announces positive coronavirus test

BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro announced on Tuesday he had tested positive for the coronavirus but said he was feeling “perfectly well” and had only mild symptoms. The far right leader has caused huge controversy in Brazil for repeatedly flouting containment measures and minimizing the risk of the virus, which has killed 65,000 people in the South American giant and infected 1.6 million. The test “has come out and it’s positive,” Bolsonaro […]

Brazilian Amazon sees worst June in 13 years for forest fires

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Amazon forest fires in Brazil increased by 19.5 percent in June compared to the same month last year, making it the worst June in 13 years, authorities revealed on Wednesday. June marks the start of the dry period and there were 2,248 recorded fires, leaving analysts expecting a worse year for the rainforest than the devastating 2019, which provoked anger throughout the world. The National Institute for Space Research […]

$4 trillion fund holders tell Brazil to halt deforestation

by Patrick GALEY PARIS, France (AFP) — Investment funds managing close to $4 trillion in assets called on Brazil Tuesday to halt deforestation of the Amazon in an open letter warning that biodiversity loss and carbon emissions pose a “systemic risk” to their portfolios. The managers from countries across Europe, Asia and South America expressed their fears that the government in Brasilia was using the COVID-19 crisis to push through environmental deregulation that could “jeopardize […]

Amazon indigenous groups face choice: fight virus or flee

by Florian PLAUCHEUR Agence France-Presse CRUZEIRINHO, Brazil (AFP) — Cruzeirinho, a small indigenous village of wooden shacks deep in the Amazon, is nearly empty these days — all but five of its 32 families have fled into the rainforest to escape the coronavirus pandemic. A week’s trip by boat from there, the inhabitants of the Umariacu indigenous reserve are trying a different strategy against the virus. “Attention: indigenous land. Closed for 15 days,” says a […]

Brazil virus toll hits 50,000 as Spain reopens borders

by Eugenia LOGIURATTO with AFP bureaus Agence France Presse RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil registered its 50,000th death from the coronavirus outbreak on Sunday, underlining Latin America’s desperate struggle to contain the disease, as Europe’s gradual emergence from lockdown was marked by Spain reopening its borders. Brazil is the second worst-affected country behind the United States, and the spread of COVID-19 is accelerating across Latin America, with Mexico, Peru and Chile also hard-hit […]

WHO warns of virus danger as Brazil cases hit one million

by Joshua Howat Berger, with Robin Millard in Geneva Agence France Presse RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — The World Health Organization warned Friday of a “new and dangerous phase” of the coronavirus pandemic, as infections continued to surge in the Americas, with Brazil registering more than one million cases. Colombia and Mexico also passed bleak milestones, as their death tolls topped 2,000 and 20,000, respectively, showing how the virus continues ravaging the Americas and […]

China cancels flights, classes over new outbreak as India deaths soar

by Jing Xuan Teng and Laurie Chen, with AFP Bureaus Agence France-Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — China closed schools in Beijing and restricted air travel from the capital on Wednesday to prevent a second wave of coronavirus infections, as India’s death toll spiked. The new Chinese cluster and surging infections in Latin America and South Asia have raised fresh doubts about how soon the world can control the pandemic, which has seen more than 8.1 […]

Brazil reports highest daily jump in virus cases

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil on Tuesday recorded its highest daily jump in new coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, with nearly 35,000 registered in 24 hours, the health ministry said. The country, which has the second-highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, after the United States, reported 34,918 new cases and 1,282 new deaths in the past 24 hours. That brought Brazil’s total caseload to more than […]