Brazil new hotspot with 20K deaths

Rio De Janerio/Moscow, May 22

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The spread of Covid-19 in Latin America and Russia continued unabated with thousands new cases and deaths reported from the new epicentres of the pandemic.

Brazil remained the epicenter of the outbreak in Latin America, as the coronavirus death toll in the country surpassed 20,000 on Thursday, after a record number of fatalities in a 24-hour period, the health ministry said. Its highest one-day toll of 1,188 on Thursday pushed the overall death tally to 20,047.

Brazil has now recorded more than 3,12,074 cases, with experts saying a lack of testing means the real figures are probably much higher.

With its curve of infections and deaths rising sharply, the country of 210 million ranks third in the world in terms of total cases, behind the United States and Russia.

The death toll — the sixth highest worldwide — has doubled in just 11 days, according to ministry data. Despite the worrying spread of the disease, far-right President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday continued his calls to scrap lockdown measures to revive the country’s flagging economy.

Russia, too, reported the highest daily spike in coronavirus deaths on Friday, as health officials registered 150 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the country’s toll to 3,249. Russia’s comparatively low mortality rate has raised eyebrows in the West, with some suggesting that the country’s government may be under reporting virus-related deaths and manipulating the statistics. — Agencies

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