Brazil recorded a record 2,286 deaths from Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Wednesday, when a worrying increase pushed the number to 2,000 for the first time.
The South American country of 212 million people, which has the second highest number of deaths in the world in the pandemic, is struggling to cope with a large number of cases that have brought many hospitals to the brink of collapse.
The new daily record brought the death toll by Covid-19 in Brazil to 270,656, second only to the United States.
The country also registered the third highest number of coronavirus infections on Wednesday, with almost 80,000.
Health experts say the increase is fueled by new, more contagious variants of the virus, including one known as P1, which is believed to have arisen in Brazil, in the city of Manaus, in the Amazon rainforest.
“We are at the worst moment of the pandemic in Brazil. The rate of transmission with these new variants is worsening the epidemic, ”said Margareth Dalcolmo, physician and researcher at Fiocruz’s main public health center.
“2021 will still be a very difficult year,” she told AFP.
Brazil has struggled to ensure sufficient vaccines for its population, increasing criticism of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro as he is dealing with the health crisis.
The president, who disregards expert advice on combating the coronavirus despite having contracted it last year, last week asked Brazilians to “stop complaining” about Covid-19 and renewed his attacks on measures to stay at home .
On Wednesday, he put on a face mask – a rarity for him – to sign a bill that speeds up the purchase of vaccines, rejecting criticism about how he is dealing with the pandemic.
“We are going to trust our government, we are going to trust the health ministry,” he said. “This is an administration of seriousness and responsibility”.
But former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva attacked Bolsonaro for his “stupid” Covid-19 policy, adding “the Earth is round, and Bolsonaro thinks it is flat … many deaths could have been avoided”.
Individual cities and states have established their own policies in the face of the president’s position.
Vaccination started late in the huge country and remains slow, with 8.8 million people (4.2% of the population) receiving the first dose.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, urged Brazil to take aggressive measures, warning that the country could affect its neighbors and beyond if it did not take the virus seriously.
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