Brazil surpasses 500,000 Covid-19 deaths, says media consortium (June 19)

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil su  rpassed the 500,000 covid-19 deaths mark on Saturday, June 19, at a time when the country is heading for a third wave of the disease, according to data from a media consortium.

The media consortium was formed by Brazilian media companies O Globo, Extra, O Estado de S.Paulo, Folha de S.Paulo, G1 and UOL. Globo, Extra, and G1 belong to the Globo Group of the Marinho family, while UOL and Folha belong to the Frias family. Both media groups are powerful (Nr. 1 and Nr. 2 in Brazil) and at the same time critical of Jair Bolsonaro and his administration.

According to the consortium, which collects data from the regional health secretariats of the 27 Brazilian states and carries out a parallel accounting to that of the Ministry of Health, at 2:15 PM local time (17.15 GMT) this Saturday, and without counting all the day’s data, Brazil accumulated 500,022 deaths from the disease, out of a cumulative total of 17,822,659 cases.

The country registered 1,401 deaths per day and 20,483 new infections of the virus, although the number should be higher at the end of the day when the Ministry of Health releases the consolidated balance.

The data confirm Brazil, with its 210 million inhabitants, as the country with the second-highest number of deaths from Covid-19 in the world after the United States (601,500) and the third-highest number of cases after the United States (33.5 million) and India (29.8 million).

The epidemiological curve has accelerated again in recent weeks. Some experts say that the country could be on the verge of a third wave of the pandemic, following the upturn in the number of cases and deaths; however, there has been talking of this third wave for over a month now, without it having manifested itself.

The daily average number of deaths in the last 7 days rose above 2,000 after falling to 1,600 at the beginning of June but is still far from the 3,000 reached on April 12, when the country experienced its deadliest phase.

In terms of infections, the daily average has climbed to 72,000, close to the peak of 77,000 reached on March 25 this year.

Despite the still critical situation of the pandemic, the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, insists on his own thesis and this week again affirmed that contamination is more effective than the vaccine against the virus.

Bolsonaro believes official Covid numbers are bogus

The president of Brazil, Bolsonaro insisted in early June that the number of deaths from Covid-19 in Brazil is “inflated” and argued that, in fact, the country might be “one of the countries with the lowest rate of deaths per inhabitant” in the world.

The Brazilian president reiterated that the numbers are fraudulently “inflated” by governors and mayors. This way, he claims, they obtain “more financial resources” from the federal government to combat the pandemic.

Read also: Bolsonaro wants to investigate if Brazilian state governors “exaggerate” Covid-19 deaths

Bolsonaro based his overcount theory upon a study, supposedly prepared by Brazil’s Federal Audit Court (TCU). Immediately thereafter, however, the TCU denied it had prepared any such report. In fact, the “study” was spurious, without any factual basis, done by a TCU employee who supports Bolsonaro; the employee was suspended. The president then recanted, saying he had been given incorrect information.