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Brazil Confirmed Coronavirus Cases Hits Over One Million With Over 50,000 Dead

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4 years ago

June 22, 2020

Brazil, the country worst hit by coronavirus after the United States, officially passed 50,000 coronavirus deaths on Sunday, a blow for a country already grappling with more than one million cases, rising political instability and a crippled economy.

Brazil now has a total of 1,085,038 confirmed cases and 50,617 deaths, compared with 49,976 on Saturday, the Health Ministry said. Experts say the true numbers are a lot higher because of a lack of widespread testing. Latin America’s largest country has typically recorded more than 1,000 deaths a day, but usually registers fewer at the weekend..

Brazil confirmed its first case of the novel coronavirus on February 26 and passed one million cases on Friday. Since first arriving in the country, the virus’ rapid spread has eroded support for right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro and raised fears of economic collapse after years of sluggish growth.

Bolsonaro, sometimes called the “Tropical Trump”, has been widely criticised for his handling of the crisis. The country still has no permanent health minister after losing two since April, after coming into conflict with the president.

Bolsonaro has shunned social distancing, calling it a “job-killing measure” more dangerous than the virus itself. He has also promoted two anti-malarial drugs as remedies, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, despite little evidence they work.

On Sunday, Bolsonaro said the military serves the will of the people and its mission is to defend democracy, adding fuel to a raging debate about the armed forces’ role amid rumbling fears of political fragility.

His comments came on the same day his supporters and detractors gathered in cities across the country, in a stark symbol of the polarisation in Latin America’s largest country.