Numbers of the week: July 25, 2020

This is Brazil by the Numbers, a weekly digest of the most interesting figures tucked inside the latest news about Brazil. A selection of numbers that help explain what is going on in Brazil. This week’s topics: Brazil’s Covid-19 death toll, the government not spending its Covid-19 budget, former Minister Mandetta in the game for 2022 elections, Brazil’s “voice of football” turns 70, the effects of inequality during the pandemic, chloroquine believers, Congress’ lord of the rings, overspending amid the crisis. 

Send any suggestions to contribute@brazilian.report

55 days of silence for each Covid-19 death

If Brazilians were to hold a minute’s silence for each person killed by Covid-19 in the country, it would go on for 55 full days. With more than 85,238 Covid-19 deaths and another 2.3 million cases, Brazil has the second-highest tallies in the world, behind only the U.S. Even President Jair Bolsonaro has been infected with the coronavirus, though he continues to advocate for the use of anti-malaria drug chloroquine as a potential cure — despite a lack of scientific evidence. 

51 percent

On average 51 percent of coronavirus patients in private hospitals survive, compared to only 34 percent in public hospitals. This shows how the pandemic has...