Coronavirus

621 cases of Covid-19 in Brazil, says Health Ministry

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Brazil’s Health Ministry reports that there are 621 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country, spread across 17 states. Unsurprisingly, the states with Brazil’s two biggest cities are home to the most infections. São Paulo has 286 confirmed cases, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 65.

Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta, however, said infections are likely to be underreported. “We have states with no infections. Is that because no one has been infected there, or are we missing something?”

Mr. Mandetta added that Brazil cannot repeat South Korea’s strategy to test people early, often, and widely. “We can’t compare a 210-million-people country with a tiny nation—the country that produces the testing kits, on top of that.”