BRAZIL’S VIRUS DEATH TOLL REACHES PEAK OF 1,179 IN ONE DAY
ROWS of graves await virus victims at Latin America’s largest cemetery as the crisis worsens in Brazil, which has reported its worst daily death toll of 1,179.
The number of burials at Vila Formosa in São Paulo has doubled compared with last year after president Jair Bolsonaro opposed lockdown restrictions in a bid to protect the economy.
Brazil’s total of confirmed infections hit 271,628 on Tuesday – overtaking Britain’s to become the third highest in the world behind Russia and the US.
At least 17,971 have died and Mr Bolsonaro now wants to expand the use of anti-malarial drug chloroquine – touted as a possible coronavirus treatment but not proven to work.
Meanwhile, US president Donald Trump is considering a ban on travel from Brazil.
‘I don’t want people coming over here and infecting our people,’ he said.