Brazil hits 1m infections – but the real figure is probably higher

BRAZIL passed the bleak milestone of one million coronavirus cases on Friday, reporting a new one-day record of infections as the pandemic surges in Latin America’s largest country.

The health ministry recorded 54,771 new infections, a jump it said was largely due to “instability” in its reporting system, which meant some states showed figures from multiple days.

That brought total infections to 1,032,913, with 48,954 deaths – second only to the United States worldwide. Experts say under-testing means the real numbers are probably much higher.

Despite the grim figures, the infection curve is finally showing signs of flattening. But since the start of June, Brazil has registered the most new infections and deaths anywhere – more than 518,000 and 19,000, respectively.

Daily death tolls have exceeded 1,000 on each of the past four days.

Brazil has struggled to set a strategy for dealing with the pandemic. President Jair Bolsonaro has clashed with state and local authorities over stay-athome measures and business closures to contain the virus.

The president threatened this month to quit the World Health Organization and has ditched two health ministers since the start of the pandemic.

The health minister he fired in April, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, told AFP Brazilians have suffered because of mixed messages from the government.

“The health ministry and state governors are telling people to stay home and practice social distancing, and the president is saying and doing the opposite,” he said.

Mourners try to comfort a grief-stricken son as he clutches the coffin of his father, who died of coronavirus, at Vila Formosa, Brazil’s biggest cemetery, in Sao Paulo