Numbers of the week: Oct. 3, 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: Shady budget maneuvers by the government, football with fans, Google financing Latin American startups, the side effects of Covid-19, Brazilian unemployment.

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BRL 7.5 million taken from the Covid-19 budget

The Jair Bolsonaro administration has misappropriated BRL 7.5 million (USD 1.3 million) earmarked for the purchase of Covid-19 rapid tests. According to newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, the money — which had been donated on March 23 by meat producer Marfrig — was used instead to fund the “Pátria Voluntária” program (Voluntary Motherland), led by First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro. The initiative aims at fostering volunteerism in Brazil — but has netted just around BRL 1 million (USD 176,800), when discounted its expenses with ads.

When the donation was made, the Brazilian government recommended that only severe cases of respiratory diseases should be tested for the coronavirus — due to the scarcity of inputs. Still, the government tried to justify its move by saying “the Health Ministry doesn’t need more tests.” 

300 fans in the stands

On October 1, the state government of Amapá, in Brazil’s North, allowed...