Brazil’s sharp rise in COVID-19 deaths will soon surpass the worst of the January record wave in the United States, scientists forecast, with deaths rising for the first time over 4,000 in a day, Tuesday, in time what the outbreak overwhelms hospitals.
The total death toll in Brazil follows the outbreak in the United States alone, with nearly 337,000 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health, compared to more than 555,000 deaths in the United States.
But with Brazil’s health system at the breaking point, the country could exceed the total number of deaths in the United States, despite having a population two-thirds that of the United States, two experts told Reuters.
“It is a nuclear reactor that triggered a chain reaction and is out of control. It’s a biological Fukushima, “said Miguel Nicolelis, a Brazilian doctor and professor at Duke University who is closely following the virus.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Health reported another 4,195 deaths through COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, well above the country’s previous record in a single day. Brazil has set daily death records every week since the end of February, as a more contagious local variant and limited social distancing efforts fuel an uncontrolled outbreak.
With mass vaccinations reducing the U.S. focus, Brazil has become the epicenter of the pandemic, contributing about one in four deaths a day globally, according to a Reuters analysis.
President Jair Bolsonaro has pushed back against wearing masks and blockages that public health experts consider the best way to reduce the transmission of the virus.
The country dragged its feet last year as people rushed to get their vaccines, slowing the launch of a national immunization program.
Despite recent growth, Brazilian officials insist the country can return to business soon as usual.
“We think that probably two or three months from now, Brazil could return to business,” Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said in an online event on Tuesday. “Of course, economic activity is likely to decline, but it will be much, much smaller than the decline we suffered last year … and much, much shorter.”
Bolsonaro responded to growing political pressure with a dramatic shake-up of half a dozen ministries, placing loyalists in key roles ahead of what could be a tough re-election campaign next year against his political enemy.