Brazil Covid death toll tops 600,000. But the pandemic is receding

Data compiled by the Health Ministry and local health officials show that Brazil has reached the mark of 600,000 confirmed deaths caused by Covid-19. The milestone is the result of structural issues which plague Brazil — such as its highly informal labor market which makes people dependent on the in-person economy — but also as a result of failed leadership.

The federal government, led by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, veered away from scientific consensus on almost every single major issue: from lockdowns and mask use to vaccines. The president encouraged people to gather without any protection against the coronavirus, touted unproven drugs, and deliberately stalled vaccine purchases. 

In two weeks, a Senate investigation will recommend his indictment for being personally responsible for the sheer mortality the Covid-19 pandemic bestowed upon Brazil.

The new milestone means Brazil has the world’s second-highest coronavirus death count, only trailing the U.S. Still, the numbers are not nearly as high as some experts feared. Back in May, the University of Washington’s ​​Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) projected deaths to reach around 973,000 by last month. At the time, the seven-day average of new daily deaths was above 3,000.

At one point, São Paulo’s Vila Formosa cemetery — Latin America’s largest — was operating 24/7 to cope with the sheer amount of bodies to bury. Moreover, average Brazilian life expectancy fell for the first time since 1945 last year, and is set...