Brazil's coronavirus outbreak reached the 1 million infections mark a few months after the first cases were reported, showing no signs of slowing down in the largest country in Latin America.
The country reported 54,771 cases on Friday, totaling 1,032,913. Data compiled by the Brazilian states also showed 1,206 deaths, up from 48,954. In both ways, Brazil is the only US worldwide.
The increase in the number of daily cases - nearly 20,000 more than the previous record - is due to a technical problem in some states' reporting process, the health ministry said in a statement late Friday.
'The Way of Disaster'
Brazil's response to the epidemic of political distress and mismatch has made it difficult for experts to predict when the disease will end in 210 million people in the country. With increasing cases in the lowlands and the poorest regions, as more cities lift sanctions, there is growing concern that the disease is seeing a new boom. PUC University estimates in Rio de Janeiro will reach 1.3 million by the end of June.
"Brazil has followed the path of disaster," said Miguel Nikolais, a Brazilian neuroscientist who is helping Northeastern states coordinate their response. "You can see Brazil become a hotspot in April. We've seen the world go through it and have done nothing.
The virus first appeared in Brazil when So Paulo businessmen returned from a trip to Europe in late February. Over the past three weeks, living in Spain, Italy, and the UK, has won a number of honors, is now second only to the American mutations. And the latest study has shown that the disease is more widespread than official data. Researchers at the University of Pelotas in southern Brazil estimate that there are six unchanged cases in each of the 120 cities with a confirmed diagnosis.
Operational statistics, meanwhile, show the ongoing devastation of the economy. The Central Bank on Thursday appeared to be a proxy for GDP in its financial activity index, up 15.09% compared to the previous year. It added the services released over the past few weeks in indexes from the industry.
Concerns over operations on the epidemic are at the center of President Bolzonaro's reopening of the economy, which has led to clashes between the president and local governments.
Depression Warning
Finance Minister Paulo Geddes warned on Wednesday that the country's recession could turn into a recession if the country's economic recession does not bring its focus back to structural reforms. Those plans were halted as coronaviruses shifted government efforts from belt-tightening to emergency spending.
Eight hours later, Brazilian policymakers slashed the benchmark Salik rate by 75 basis points to a record 2.25% in the eighth consecutive downturn. The Central Bank has opened the door for further monetary easing amid concerns that the economy is recovering quickly from losses from the coronavirus pandemic.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has estimated Brazil's GDP at 7.4 percent this year, but if the country reopens, the virus will reach 9.1 percent.
By reopening
Increasing economic pressure has reopened more and more cities without a clear decrease in cases. According to G1, Rio de Janeiro's health secretary, Fernando Ferry, said the reopening would create a new wave of lawsuits: the state would soon lose money to pay doctors if there were no improvements in tax collection, according to the G1 website.
On Thursday, the Ministry of Health said it was witnessing some stabilization of the curve, which could soon lead to a symbolic death. But the crowded streets and shop scenes are worrying health professionals. If this trend continues, biologist Attila Timino says the number should look up over the next few weeks.
“I believe this is a plateau and we will start to see a decrease in cases, but it is less likely,” he said. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the University of Sోo Paulo and the Yale-educated Timino have been discussing the disease with over 2 million followers on its YouTube science channel. At an epidemic, we are starting to reintroduce things very quickly.
The University of PUC estimates Brazil has killed more than 57,000 people by the end of June. Marino now starts to line up the curve, he says the number will be between 100,000 and 150,000 by September.
“We are crossing the 1 million mark, and there are very few walkers,” he said. "The same goes for death. We lost more than 50,000 lives."
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