Brazil lockdown

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said yesterday that there would be “no national lockdown”, ignoring growing calls from health experts a day after the nation saw its highest number of Covid-19 deaths in 24 hours since the pandemic began. Brazil’s Health Ministry registered 4195 deaths on Wednesday, becoming the third country to go above that threshold. In an open letter published in newspaper O Globo, the Brazilian Association of Collective Health called for a threeweek nationwide lockdown. “The serious epidemiological situation that is leading to the collapse of the health system in several states requires the immediate adoption, without hesitation, of strict restrictive measures,” the statement said.