Coronavirus

⚠️ BREAKING: Health Ministry bungles Covid-19 update

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The Health Ministry made a mistake when typing its latest coronavirus update — overstating the death toll by 270 people. Instead of reporting 1,037 deaths in the state of São Paulo, the ministry registered 1,307 casualties — which would add up to 2,845 total deaths. The number is actually 2,575.

According to the initial figures published by the Health Ministry, Brazil had recorded 383 deaths between Sunday and Monday — far more than any other single day since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, the country confirmed 113 Covid-19 deaths over the past 24 hours. 

The mistake certainly leaves room for speculation around the changing of the guard at the head of the ministry last week. President Jair Bolsonaro fired Luiz Henrique Mandetta from his office as Health Minister on Thursday, naming oncologist Nelson Teich as his replacement.

Meanwhile, fewer than 2,000 new coronavirus infections were recorded between Sunday night and Monday afternoon. However, daily figures of confirmed infections in Brazil have shown a consistent trend of decreasing over the weekend, which could be more to do with delays in diagnosis and the country’s massive underreporting issue.


This post has been updated at 6:22 (Brasília time)