SAO PAULO (AP) – Brazil on Tuesday reported for the first time a 24-hour COVID-19 death toll that topped 4,000, becoming the third nation to go above that daily threshold.
Many rulers, mayors and judges are reopening parts of the economy despite persistent chaos in crowded hospitals and the collapsed health system in various parts of the country.
Brazil’s health ministry said 4,195 deaths were recorded in the previous 24 hours, and that the nation’s pandemic was rapidly approaching 340,000, the second highest in the world. The United States and Peru alone have had daily death tolls in excess of 4,000.
The state of Sao Paulo, the most populous in Brazil with 46 million residents, recorded nearly 1,400 deaths in the last count. Health officials said the figure was due in part to the Easter holidays, which delayed the count.
Local authorities across the country argue that the number of cases and hospitalizations is on a downward trend after a week of partial shutdown.
Miguel Lago, executive director of the Institute for Health Policy Studies in Brazil, which advises public health officials, said the reopening is a mistake he fears will generate even more death tolls, though he believes it is unlikely to reverse.
“The fact is that he has won the anti-blockade narrative of President Jair Bolsonaro,” Lago told The Associated Press. “Mayors and governors are politically prohibited from tightening social distancing policies because they know the president’s supporters, including business leaders, will sabotage him.”
Bolsonaro, who has long minimized the risks of coronavirus, remains totally against blockages, as it harms the economy.
Patients with COVID-19 use more than 90% of the beds in the intensive care unit in most Brazilian states, although the figures have remained stable since last week. Still, hundreds die while waiting for attention and basic supplies like oxygen and sedatives run out in several states.
Less than 3% of Brazil’s 210 million people have received the two doses of coronavirus vaccines, according to Our World in Data, an online research site.
Over the weekend, Brazilian Supreme Court judges began a tug-of-war over the reopening of religious buildings, which were closed by many local authorities despite the federal government’s decision to label them as part of the services. essentials.
Some churches welcomed their faithful on Easter Sunday, but others were detained by mayors and governors. Its reopening will be resolved Wednesday in the high court, but some local councils, such as Belo Horizonte, voted Tuesday to keep the religious buildings open.
On Tuesday, a judge in Rio de Janeiro also allowed the reopening of schools as Mayor Eduardo Paes wanted. Hours later, the mayors of Campinas and Sorocaba, two of the most populous cities in the state of Sao Paulo, agreed to reopen businesses with an automatic purchasing system after a 10-day hiatus.
Sao Paulo’s professional football executives said they expected to play matches this week after a 15-day hiatus, promising local prosecutors to follow stricter health protocols.