Brazil records 1,022 new fatalities from COVID-19, death toll soars to 49,976

The coronavirus death toll in Brazil currently stands at 49,976, with 1,022 new virus-related deaths reported on June 20. As per John Hopkins University coronavirus data centre, Brazil is currently the world’s number 2 hotspot for the deadly virus after the United States. The country has reported 1,032,913 positive coronavirus cases so far.

Crisis worsens in Brazil

As per reports, Brazil confirmed its first case of the deadly coronavirus on February 26 and recently on June 19 crossed a million coronavirus cases.  The country’s right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro has been highly criticized for his handling of the coronavirus and has been referred to as the ‘Tropical Trump’ because both have seemingly downplayed the seriousness of the virus and tried to push for the re-opening of the country as soon as possible.

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The coronavirus pandemic in Brazil and the subsequent restriction imposed in an effort to tackle the virus have raised fears of a potential economic collapse. Brazil still does not have a permanent health minister after the previous ones were dismissed by Bolsonaro for refusing to follow his lead on the virus.

Authorities in Brazil have now blamed irregular reporting of COVID-19 cases by states for the rising national toll. On June 19, the country’s health ministry reportedly said the new spike on positive cases was due in part to “instability” in how populous states reported their data on the previous day. The Brazilian health ministry has said that the record spike was partial “due to instability in the routine of exporting data” related to states of Bahia, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo on June 18.

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