Brazil Counts 42,791 Coronavirus Deaths, According to Media Consortium (June 13th)

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil recorded 890 new deaths from the novel coronavirus in 24 hours, according to a survey conducted by a consortium of media outlets with the State Health Secretariats. As a result, there were 42,791 deaths from Covid-19 by Saturday, June 13th. Below are the consolidated figures at 8 PM:

• 42,791 deaths; there were 41,901 by 8 PM on Friday, a difference of 890 deaths;
• 850,796 confirmed cases; there were 829,902 by Friday night.

Only Roraima failed to release its data in time to be included in the balance.

The data were obtained after an unprecedented partnership between G1, O Globo, Extra, O Estado de S.Paulo, Folha de S.Paulo, and UOL, that began working together to collect the necessary information in all 26 states and the Federal District.

The goal is for Brazilians to learn about the development and the total number of deaths caused by Covid-19, in addition to the consolidated numbers of cases tested and positive for the novel coronavirus.

Partnership

The partnership between media outlets was a reaction to the Bolsonaro government’s decision to restrict access to data on the Covid-19 pandemic. Leading figures from the political and legal world, along with professional and press representatives, praised the initiative.

Changes introduced by the Ministry of Health in the disclosure of its pandemic balance reduced the quantity and quality of the data for a few days. First, the time of disclosure, which was at 5 PM under Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta (until April 17th), was moved to 7 PM and then later to 10 PM. This hindered or prevented the disclosure of the data in television news and print media.

“It’s over for the Jornal Nacional [Evening News],” said President Jair Bolsonaro, mockingly, commenting on the change.

The second change was qualitative. The website on which the Ministry publishes the number of deaths and infections was taken offline on Thursday night, June 4th. When it was back online, after more than 19 hours, it presented only information on “new” cases, i.e., cases recorded on that same day.

The consolidated figures and the history of the disease since its outbreak have vanished. Links to downloads of data in a table format, critical for analysis by researchers and journalists, were also removed from the website, which fed other disclosure initiatives.

Among the items no longer reported are new case curve by the reporting date and epidemiological week; cumulative cases by the reporting date and epidemiological week; deaths by the reporting date and epidemiological week; and cumulative deaths by the reporting date and epidemiological week.

On Sunday, June 7th, the government announced that it would again report its balance on the disease. But it reported conflicting figures within a few hours.

On Saturday, June 13th, the Ministry of Health once again released the complete data, in compliance with a Federal Supreme Court ruling. According to the portfolio, there were 892 new deaths and 21,704 new cases, totaling 42,720 deaths and 850,514 cases since the start of the pandemic – a total figure lower than those found by the consortium.

Source: G1