Brazil Confirms 1,382 Deaths on Sunday, Then Reduces Number to 525 Without Explanation

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil yesterday recorded the highest number of confirmed deaths on a Sunday since the start of the pandemic: 1,382 new deaths were included in the official balance disclosed to the press, raising to 37,312 the number of people who have died in the country infected by Covid-19. The data is the second-highest observed, behind only the 1,473 confirmed on Thursday, June 4th.

With the confirmation of 12,581 new infections, the total number of cases stands at 685,427. The figure, referring to the records of the past 24 hours, does not reflect cases that occurred between Saturday and Sunday, given that it relates to the date on which they were officially recorded.

Ministry publishes conflicting data, does not explain differences

The information was released to the press and confirmed by the portfolio’s press office. However, on its official website, the Ministry published inconsistent numbers of infections and deaths – from 1,382 deaths by Covid-19 in the country, as stated in the first report released to the press, the number dropped to 525, a difference of 857 deaths.

Between 8:37 PM and 9:50 PM, the official website began to feature conflicting data. The portfolio failed to provide an explanation for what happened, nor did it confirm which of the figures should be considered as official for the day.

There was also a change in the number of infections. The first balance released by the Ministry reported a total of 12,581 new cases, against the current 18,912.

The number of people recovered from infection yesterday, according to official data, stands at 277,149.

Disclosure will undergo further changes

After much criticism from experts, researchers, and authorities, the portfolio again released the consolidated number of statistics yesterday and announced that it will feature a new platform, still under development, with information on Brazil, the states, capitals and metropolitan regions – with the respective graphs of daily development of new records.

“This way, the whole health care network will be in a position to adapt and act more effectively against the disease,” it says in a note released yesterday evening.

Among the planned changes, is the use of the date of occurrence (rather than the date of registration, as occurred at the start of the pandemic), which, the text says, “will help to have a more realistic overview of what is happening at the national level and will favor prediction, thereby enabling the adoption of more appropriate measures to tackle Covid-19 at the regional and national levels”.

In a week marked by accusations of data “blackouts,” Health said “it has been improving the means to disclose the national situation in fighting Covid-19,” and that the new online platform “reinforces the transparency of information”.

The Ministry also justified the changes observed in recent days, stating that with the evolution of the pandemic, “there was a need for clearer language for the population. The former, it argues, was “based on an epidemiological perspective”.

Regarding the recent change in the time when data is disclosed, from 6PM to 9PM, the Ministry states that it is “part of the strategy to obtain more accurate data” and is linked to the closure of state epidemiological reports. “These data are uploaded by the states and municipalities at the end of the day, around 6 PM, and there are different time zones in Brazil, which somewhat delays the updating of the data to be processed”.

Source: UOL