CORONAVIRUS FATALITIES SURPASS ITALY'S

BRASILIA Brazil reeled on Friday at a record daily number of COVID-19 deaths, pushing the toll past Italy’s ahead of planned protests over the weekend against the government of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.

In an editorial running the length of Folha de S.paulo’s front page, the widely circulated daily said just 100 days had passed since Bolsonaro, pictured, described the virus now “killing a Brazilian per minute” as “a little flu.”

Brazil’s Health Ministry reported late on Thursday that confirmed cases in the country had climbed past 600,000, with 1,437 deaths registered within 24 hours.

With its official death toll now above 34,000, the pandemic has taken more lives in Brazil than anywhere except the United States and United Kingdom.

Bolsonaro’s efforts to minimize the public health risks and lift quarantines have emboldened critics, some of whom have accused him of using the crisis to undermine democratic institutions.