RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil added this Sunday 1,305 new deaths by the coronavirus and surpassed 390,000 fatalities by the pathogen, in what is already the deadliest month of the pandemic since the registration of the first death in the country, on March 12, 2020, informed the Government.
The Latin American giant, one of the nations hardest hit by the health crisis, has accumulated a total of 390,797 deaths related to covid-19, according to the most recent bulletin released today by the Ministry of Health.
In the last 24 hours, the country also confirmed 32,572 new infections, bringing the total number of infected people to 14,340,787. However, the figures could be higher due to the reduction in the number of personnel responsible for collecting data on weekends, which are only consolidated on Tuesdays.
Brazil is going through a virulent and deadly second wave of the pandemic, much worse than the first. April is already the deadliest month of the health emergency in the country, with 69,282 fatalities recorded so far, compared to the 66,573 deaths recorded for the whole of March.
However, although the pandemic continues to advance rapidly throughout Brazil, the average number of deaths per day has fallen in recent weeks to around 3,000. The authorities consider that the country may have reached the peak of the epidemiological curve, albeit at very high levels.
Despite the serious situation, hundreds of Cariocas filled the beaches of Rio de Janeiro again this Sunday. However, the permanence in its sands is only authorized on working days.
Scenes of crowds were also recorded in Sao Paulo, which relaxed part of the restrictive measures in force since March 6 and authorized the reopening the day before of bars, restaurants, museums, cinemas, and parks other economic activities.
VACCINATION ONCE AGAIN DELAYED
With more than 210 million inhabitants, Brazil is relying on the progress of vaccination, started in mid-January, to contain the rapid escalation of deaths and cases of covid-19, but has been facing difficulties amid the shortage of new doses and raw materials for the local manufacture of antigens.
This weekend, the Ministry of Health reduced by 14.5 million the expected delivery of immunizers for May, translating into 31% less than initially estimated.
The Ministry explained that the volume of active ingredients received in the last months was lower than expected and because some vaccines are still pending the approval of the health regulatory agency for their use in the country.
In the midst of this scenario, a quarter of Brazilian cities have been forced to suspend their vaccination processes, according to a report prepared by the National Confederation of Municipalities (CNM).
Since the beginning of the national immunization campaign, about 28.9 million people have received the first dose of the vaccine, representing 13.6% of Brazilians. In contrast, less than 6% of the population has been inoculated with the second dose.