The unfolding tragedy in Brazil is escalating. More than 6346 people died due to COVID-19 a new record number in a single day. Brazil’s daily death count has been overtaking it’s personal record daily since May 26th. At the moment Brazil has 499966 confirmed cases and has overtaken Russia’s spot as the 2nd highest in the world.
Why it’s going downhill with Brazil
Brazil has no health minster after two officials who headed the ministry resigned because of constantly clashing with Jair Bolsonaro who has continuously dismissed the efforts put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Of the 15000 ventilators purchased by the federal government, only 800 have been distributed due to logistics problems. Hospitals are becoming overwhelmed by the increased number of daily infections in a country with a population of 120 million people, the biggest in Latin America.
With fears that the government may not get the money to bail out companies; and businesses affected by the Covid-19 crisis, Jair Bolsonaro the president has been organizing protests against lockdown and encouraging people to go to work which has worsened the situation.
As Brazil has overtaken Russia as the new hot spot in the numbers of COVID-19 cases, the consequences will be far-reaching. The country was already facing economic difficulties even before the pandemic knocked on the door. This is worrying because 25% of the population lives under extreme poverty. Combined with the poor health system and overcrowded cities it’s impossible to ignore the dangers ahead.
Bolsonaro’s unconcern toward COVID-19 and it’s victims
Featured image source: “Brazilian Flag ! / Bandeira Brasileira !” by Andre Maceira, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0Source
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