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BRASILIA: Brazil recorded a record number of new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday (May 13), beating France’s count to become the sixth most affected country, as the coronavirus sends the economy into its worst year since at minus 1900.
The government confirmed 11,385 new cases in the past 24 hours, bringing its total count to 188,974 coronavirus cases since the outbreak began. Earlier on Wednesday, France revised its total number of confirmed and suspected cases, down 0.3 percent to 177,700.
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The pandemic has affected Brazil’s economy, as residents take refuge in their homes, and many state and local governments ordered most companies to close to curb the spread of the virus.
READ: Brazil turns to China for help in the fight against the coronavirus and considers the cooperation of the United States
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been cheating on state governors for weeks because of the blockades, saying they are causing more damage from job loss than the disease itself.
On Wednesday, the economy ministry forecast the Brazilian economy would contract 4.7 percent in 2020, the biggest annual decline since records began more than a century ago.
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The ministry estimates that each additional week of quarantine measures costs the economy 20 billion reais ($ 3.40 billion).
“It will get to the point where hungry people take to the streets,” Bolsonaro said Wednesday.
He escalated the fight this week by declaring gyms and beauty salons as “essential” services that can be opened up for business, threatening legal action against non-compliant local governments.
Sao Paulo, the most populous state in Brazil and with most cases of the virus, will not comply with Bolsonaro’s decree, Governor Joao Doria said on Wednesday, echoing the comments of at least 10 other governors.
The five countries that have registered more infections than Brazil are the United States, Spain, Russia, the United Kingdom, and Italy.
Brazil recorded 749 new coronavirus deaths on Wednesday, totaling 13,149.
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