Media outlets in joint effort to publish Covid-19 data

Competing Brazilian mainstream media outlets G1, O Globo, Extra, Estadão, Folha, and UOL have joined forces to gather and upload Covid-19 data. The initiative is a response to the Health Ministry’s decision to hide the total tally of deaths and infections — and publish conflicting numbers that do not allow scientists, researchers, or journalists to analyze the progression of the coronavirus in the country.

As we explained in our June 8 Weekly Briefing, the Jair Bolsonaro administration has deliberately made Covid-19 data opaque.

The joint effort from these media outlets will collect data from state-level health authorities and publish them at around 8 pm, in time for nightly newscasts. Since the weekend, multiple efforts have sprouted in order to give more transparency to Covid-19 numbers. According to one of them, by state administrations, Brazil has recorded at least 680,456 infections and 36,148 deaths.

On Saturday, data editor Marcelo Soares revealed that areas with low Covid-19 deaths have posted record-setting mortality figures from acute respiratory distress syndrome — which can be caused by Covid-19, but also by pneumonia or influenza.

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