Brazil’s death toll from coronavirus exceeded 100,000 Saturday night, marking a grim milestone as the outbreak shows no signs of diminishing five months after the first reported case in the country.
With an average of more than 1,000 daily deaths since the end of May, the nation of 210 million has the second highest death toll in the world behind the United States. Brazil also has the second most total infection after the US, with 3,012,412 confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to the Ministry of Public Health.
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As in many countries, experts believe that both numbers may be much higher due to insufficient testing.
‘It’s very sad. Those 100,000 represent various families, friends, parents, children, ”said Marcio do Nascimento Silva, a 56-year-old taxi driver who lost his children in the pandemic.
“It simply came to our notice then [100,000] and many people do not seem to see it, both under the government and our people, ”said Silva. ‘It’s not just numbers, but people. Death became normal. ”
Sisters Valeria Melo da Silva, left, and Viviane, her husband Luigi do Nascimento visit the grave of their mother who died of COVID-19, at a cemetery in Manaus, Brazil, on Tuesday, August 4, 2020. Their 67-year-old mother reported that she was cold, and a few days later she began to have trouble breathing. She died after five days in a public hospital. ‘I do not accept her death yet, not yet,’ said Viviane, crying and regretting that the family was unable to keep a watch for her mother. (AP Photo / Helton Belo)
Even as the toll of deaths and infections continues to rise, President Jair Bolsonaro – who said he caught the virus and has since recovered – has called for the country to reopen its economy.
Many of the 27 states of Brazil have started reopening shops and restaurants, and people have returned to beaches in places like Rio de Janeiro.
Experts have complained about a lack of national coordination among Bolsonaro and disorganized responses by city and state governments, with some reopening earlier than recommended by health experts.
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“We should live in despair because this is a tragedy like a world war. But Brazil is under collective anesthesia,” he said. José Davi Urbaez, a former member of the Infectious Diseases Society, told Reuters.
“The government’s message today is, ‘Catch your coronavirus, and if it’s serious, there is intensive care.’ That sums up our policy today,” Urbaez said.
Bolsonaro, who called COVID-19 a “minor flu”, has dismissed two health ministers, both doctors, over differences with the president over social distance and the use of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug that most studies have been found to be ineffective in treating COVID-19.
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Bolsonaro promoted the drug, saying it helped him recover from his own infection.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
