⚠️ UPDATE: Covid-19 deaths double in eight days

The latest coronavirus update published by the Health Ministry shows that the number of Covid-19 deaths in Brazil has doubled over the past eight days — from 2,906 on April 22 to 5,901 today. The total number of infections has reached 85,380 — more than twice as much as April 20 figures. This now places Brazil among the top 10 countries in the world in terms of confirmed infections, above China in both cases and deaths.

However, China’s own results have been called into question, with suggestions that the central government had tampered with alarming data.  

Research from the Imperial College of London concluded that Brazil has the highest rate of Covid-19 contagion among 48 countries studied, predicting over 5,000 new reported deaths this week alone.

Social isolation

Support for social isolation has dropped in Brazil, despite Health Minister Nelson Teich admitting yesterday that distancing measures are the most effective strategies against the spread of the coronavirus. A study by the Singapore University of Technology and Design suggests that Brazil’s epidemic is unlikely to be controlled before August. That conclusion was based on official figures, however, which suffer from underreporting, as the government itself has admitted — some studies project that the real figures are as much as ten times higher.

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