BRAZIL / RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazil’s death toll from COVID-19 is expected to reach 100,000 on Saturday and continue to climb as most Brazilian cities reopen shops and restaurants, although the pandemic is still raging.
Crosses, balloons and Brazilian flags are seen on Copacabana beach, placed by members of the NGO Rio de Paz in honor of the hundreds of thousands of dead victims of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil August 8, 2020. REUTERS / Ricardo Moraes
Confronted with its most fatal outbreak since the Spanish flu a century ago, Brazil reported its first cases of the novel coronavirus in late February. The virus took three months to kill 50,000 people, and just 50 days to kill the next 50,000.
Led by President Jair Bolsonaro, who played down the gravity of the epidemic and fought lockdowns by local officials, Brazilians protesting at night from their windows during the first months of the outbreak have hit the grim milestone with a shoulder hit.
“We should live in despair, because this is a tragedy like a world war. But Brazil is under collective anesthesia, ”said Dr José Davi Urbaez, a former member of the Infectious Diseases Society.
He and other public health experts have sounded the alarm that Brazil does not yet have a coordinated plan to combat the pandemic, as many officials are focusing on “reopening”, which is likely to stimulate circulation and slow down the outbreak.
Two health ministers, both trained doctors, have resigned over differences with Bolsonaro. The acting minister is an army general who has abandoned the call for social distance, which experts say is essential, but the president opposes him.
Bolsonaro, who called COVID-19 a ‘small flu’, says he has recovered from his own infection thanks to hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial medication that remains unproven against the coronavirus.
‘We do not know where it will stop, perhaps with 150,000 or 200,000 dead. Only time will tell the full impact of COVID-19, ”said Alexandre Naime, head of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Sao Paulo State University.
He said the only comparison might be diseases brought on by colonizers, such as smallpox, which decimated indigenous populations when Europeans first came to America.
While that history is long gone, Urbaez said that Brazil today seems equally equal to the COVID-19 deaths to come.
“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.
Report by Lisandra Paraguassu in Brasilia and Pedro Fonseca in Rio de Janeiro; Written by Anthony Boadle; Edited by Brad Haynes and Leslie Adler
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