Brazil’s COVID-19 Fatalities Now Over 20,000

Brazil endured another terrible day with coronavirus (COVID-19) figures surpassing 20,000 deaths, according to reports by the Guardian’s Latin America correspondent.

The grim coronavirus milestone, with more than 20,000 deaths from COVID-19, has now been officially confirmed with Thursday evening announcement by Brazil’s health ministry of a daily record of 1,188 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of officially recorded fatalities to 20,047.

Brazil also confirmed another 18,508 infections, taking the total number to 310,087. That is the third highest number in the world, after the US and Russia.

Despite the rising death toll the country’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, continues to downplay the dangers of the coronavirus, which he has repeatedly dismissed as “a bit of a cold” and “a little flu”.

On Thursday, just hours before the new death toll was announced, Bolsonaro claimed the pandemic’s threat had been exaggerated with “a great deal of propaganda”.

“This has brought dread to the heart of the Brazilian family,” Bolsonaro complained.

However, Bolsonaro, a long-running advocate of malaria drug chloroquine to treat COVID-19, on Thursday finally admitted there was no proof it works, but said there are cases in which it appears to have been successful, Reuters reports.

On Wednesday, the country’s Health Ministry issued new guidelines for the wider use of anti-malarial drugs in mild coronavirus cases, in defiance of public health experts warning of possible health risks.

The interim Health Minister, Eduardo Pazuello, an army general, authorised the use after two doctors left the ministry’s top job under pressure to promote early use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine.

The new guidelines suggested dosage for the anti-malarials along with the antibiotic azithromycin at the onset of symptoms. Patients or family members would have to sign a waiver recognising potential side effects. – The Guardian