Almost three years since the coronavirus claimed its first victim in Brazil, the country has for the first time gone without registering a single fatality from the disease in the last 24 hours. According to a daily bulletin released by the Health Ministry and the National Council of Health Secretariats (Conass), Brazil saw 298 new cases and no deaths from Covid on Sunday.
Numbers released at the weekend tend to be underestimated — due to a lag in data provided by certain states. Still, this is the first time that Brazil has reported zero deaths. The country saw its first case of coronavirus in late February 2020, and its first fatality in mid-March of that year.
Overall, the country has tallied nearly 37 million confirmed cases and close to 700,000 deaths since the pandemic started. In absolute numbers, Brazil has the second highest Covid death toll in the world, after the U.S.
The mishandling of the pandemic by former President Jair Bolsonaro was one of the black marks against his government. Mr. Bolsonaro played down the severity of the virus, opposed preventative measures such as lockdowns, championed ineffective remedies, and was slow to procure vaccines.
Brazilians were however quick to get the jab once the Covid vaccine was available. To date, nearly 170 million people have been fully immunized against Covid (with two jabs or the single-dose vaccine), or around 80 percent of the population. Some 104 million boosters have been given, with a further 42 million second booster shots having been distributed, per government figures.
All adults are eligible for the second booster in Brazil. The Health Ministry will start rolling out bivalent boosters to certain groups later this month.
Search
