Brazil Surpasses 150,000 Coronavirus Deaths

The number of coronavirus deaths in Brazil has surpassed 150,000, according to the country’s health ministry.

The country also passed five million total infections earlier this week. It has the second-highest coronavirus death toll in the world after the US, and the third-highest number of cases after the US and India.

According to figures from the health ministry, 150,198 people in Brazil have died of Covid since the first fatality was recorded in March.

In the past 24 hours, Brazil registered 559 additional coronavirus deaths and 26,749 new cases. The daily number of new cases has been slowly falling since it peaked in the summer, when there were about 1,000 new deaths per day for two months.

The South American nation eclipses other countries on the continent in both the number of coronavirus cases and death toll.

Colombia, the next worst-hit country in the region, has recorded 27,495 deaths and 894,300 confirmed cases.

President Jair Bolsonaro has been accused of downplaying the risks of the virus throughout the pandemic, ignoring expert advice on restrictive measures.

He has also been criticised for minimising the threat of Covid-19, including by calling it a “little flu”.

But despite criticism over his handling of the crisis, his approval ratings have actually risen, thanks to generous government handouts to around 60 million informal workers.

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