Covid-19 rages as Brazil bears brunt with 4k deaths in a day
Thailand’s transport minister tests positive for Covid, forcing other MPs to isolate
SAO PAULO/ TEHRAN: Brazil reported a 24-hour tally of Covid-19 deaths exceeding 4,000 for the first time on Tuesday, becoming the third nation to go above that daily threshold.
Many governors, mayors and judges are reopening parts of the economy despite lingering chaos in overcrowded hospitals and a collapsed health system in several parts of the country.
Brazil’s health ministry said 4,195 deaths were counted in the previous 24 hours, with the nation’s pandemic toll quickly approaching 340,000, the second highest in the world. Only the US and Peru have had daily death tolls higher than 4,000.
Sao Paulo state, Brazil’s most populous with 46 million residents, registered almost 1,400 deaths in the latest count.
Officials said the figure was partly due to the Easter holiday, which delayed the count. Authorities argue that numbers of cases and hospitalisations are trending downwards after a week of a partial shutdown.
Iran, meanwhile, shattered its daily record for new infections for the second consecutive day on Wednesday as Covid-19 cases soared to 20,954, a worrisome trend after more than a year of the country battling the worst outbreak in West Asia. Iran’s severe surge triggered new movement restrictions in major cities following a two-week public holiday for Nowruz, the Persian New Year.
In Thailand, at least 10 Thai cabinet ministers and dozens of lawmakers were self-isolating on Wednesday after coming into contact with positive cases, amid a sharp increase in infections in the capital Bangkok.
Transport minister Saksiam Chidchob said he has tested positive for Covid-19, while his Bhumjaithai Party said other ministers, lawmakers and coalition politicians had been in contact with confirmed cases.
Thai PM Prayuth Chan-ocha asked authorities to prepare field hospitals in anticipation of a spike in infections.