Tag: Brazil

Brazil passes 20,000 virus deaths after record 24-hour toll

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — The coronavirus death toll in Brazil surpassed 20,000 on Thursday, after a record number of fatalities in a 24-hour period, the health ministry said. The country is the epicenter of the outbreak in Latin America, and its highest one-day toll of 1,188 pushed the overall death tally to 20,047. Brazil has now recorded more than 310,000 cases, with experts saying a lack of testing means the real figures are […]

Brazil surpasses 1,000 coronavirus deaths in 24 hours

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil registered 1,179 coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said Tuesday, as the pandemic exacted its worst daily toll yet in the hardest-hit Latin American country. The overall death toll in Brazil now stands at 17,971, the ministry said. This was the first time the daily toll exceeded 1,000. New infections in the past 24 hours totaled 17,408, bringing the total to 271,628, the third-highest […]

Brazil jumps to third in COVID-19 cases worldwide

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil has the third-highest number of novel coronavirus cases in the world, according to official figures released Monday, a troubling surge for a country struggling to respond to the pandemic. With 254,220 confirmed cases, Brazil has now surpassed Britain, Spain and Italy in the past 72 hours on the list of total infections, and is behind only the United States (1.5 million) and Russia (290,000). Brazil has registered 16,792 COVID-19 […]

Brazil’s coronavirus death toll tops 15,000: official figures

  SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil’s COVID-19 death toll passed 15,000 on Saturday, official data showed, while its number of infections topped 230,000, making it the country with the fourth-highest number of cases in the world. With 15,633 deaths and 233,142 confirmed cases, Brazil — whose president Jair Bolsonaro has dismissed the disease as a “little flu” — is at the epicenter of infections in Latin America. Experts say under-testing means the real figures […]

Coronavirus infects 38 indigenous groups in Brazil

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — The coronavirus pandemic has hit 38 indigenous groups in Brazil, raising fears for populations that have a history of being decimated by outside diseases, the Brazilian Indigenous Peoples’ Association (APIB) said Friday. “The virus is reaching indigenous territories across Brazil with frightening speed,” the association said in a statement. An APIB survey found 446 cases of the new coronavirus and 92 deaths among the affected groups, mainly in the Brazilian […]

Brazil husband-wife doctors fight virus at work, home

by Florence GOISNARD Agence France Presse SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — Neither of the Sztajnboks is getting much sleep these days. Dr. Jacques Sztajnbok, head of intensive care at one of the main coronavirus hospitals in Sao Paulo, Brazil, says the stress of being on the front line of the pandemic often wakes him up in the middle of the night. His wife, Dr. Fabiane Sztajnbok, an infectious disease specialist in the hospital’s emergency room, […]

Brazilian Amazon mayor pleads for world help on virus

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — The mayor of Manaus, the biggest city in the Amazon rainforest region, asked world leaders Tuesday for help fighting the novel coronavirus, which has brought his city’s health system to the brink of collapse. Manaus is the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas, which has been devastated by the pandemic. Mayor Arthur Virgilio sent video messages and letters pleading for funds and medical equipment to 21 world leaders, […]

Brazilian President’s ‘So what?’ as 5,000 die sparks fury in Brazil

  RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Rarely have two words ignited such a firestorm of controversy. “So what?” said Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday when a journalist asked him about the fact that more than 5,000 Brazilians had died of the coronavirus. The far-right leader’s off-the-cuff comment has been sparking anger ever since, with governors, politicians, healthcare professionals and media figures all weighing in to express their outrage at his lack of empathy. […]

Brazil passes 5,000 deaths from COVID-19: official

BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil, the South American country worst-hit by the coronavirus pandemic, has registered more than 5,000 deaths from COVID-19, the health ministry announced Tuesday, pushing the toll above that of China. A record 474 deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours, with the number of infections rising to 71,886, the ministry said. China, where the virus first emerged before spreading across the world, has recorded about 4,600 deaths. The ministry said […]

Brazil President Bolsonaro joins demo against stay-at-home orders

  SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro on Sunday joined hundreds of demonstrators outside army headquarters in the capital Brasilia protesting stay-at-home orders issued by state governors. The crowd of around 600 called on the army to intervene in the handling of the coronavirus pandemic and demanded the closure of Congress. Some held up posters declaring “Military intervention with Bolsonaro”. “I am here because I believe in you and you are here […]

Brazil health minister sacked amid virus crisis

  BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil’s Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said Thursday he’d been sacked by President Jair Bolsonaro, after weeks of clashes between the two over the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Mandetta made the announcement on Twitter following a meeting with Bolsonaro at the presidential palace in the capital Brasilia. Their relationship had deteriorated since the start of the virus crisis. Mandetta promoted isolation as a tool to contain the spread […]

99-year-old WWII vet beats coronavirus in Brazil

BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — A 99-year-old World War II veteran in Brazil was released from the hospital with military honors Tuesday after recovering from COVID-19. Second Lieutenant Ermando Piveta, who served in the Brazilian artillery in Africa during World War II, was brought out of the Armed Forces Hospital in Brasilia to a burst of trumpet music and applause. Wearing an army-green side cap, he raised his arms in the air as he left the […]