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– The headlines on the state of affairs in Brazil this month have been bleak. It’s much worse now. The BBC reports that the country reported 2,841 COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours on Tuesday evening, which it paints as a “leap” from the previous record of 2,286 on March 10. And health institute Fiocruz said this: “Our researchers’ analysis suggests it is the biggest hospital and health service collapse in Brazil’s history.” More:
- The country sees the appointment of the pandemic’s fourth health minister, Brazilian cardiologist Marcelo Queiroga, on Wednesday. Reuters reports that no transfer date has been set.
- He is urged to consider the possibility of a national lockdown, but he went nowhere near in Tuesday’s comments promoting masks and hand washing, but not social distancing.
- President Jair Bolsonaro has spoken out about his dislike of lockdowns, and the AP reports that Queiroga said Tuesday that the COVID-19 policy he will implement “belongs to the Bolsonaro government, not the health minister.”
- Reuters reports that Queiroga will take the place of Eduardo Pazuello, an active military general who has no medical degree and has been on duty since May, the AP reports. The two health ministers before him only lasted a short time, in part because they did not approve the use of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID treatment.
- At the Washington PostIshaan Tharoor provides a global context: Brazil is number 2 in the total number of cases and deaths, after the US. But there it gets better and worse here and there, partly due to the spread of a more contagious P1 variant in the past two months. Tharoor adds that the use of coronavirus tests, “the key to detecting and stopping an increase in cases,” has been on a sharp decline since December.
- The BBC reports that the ICs in Rio Grande do Sul are 100% full, and a local politician there shared an idea on Monday that shows the desperation. Guardian Alberi Dias said: “We have a lot of business people here who own helicopters and airplanes … I don’t know if there is a liquid version of alcohol gel, but I think spraying would be a good idea because the virus is in the air. They use airplanes to spray crops. Maybe it’s a good idea, because alcohol gel is harmless. “
- The vaccination coverage in Brazil is low. Our World in Data lists the current number of single doses per 100 people at 5.6, compared to 32.62 in the US.
(Read more COVID-19 stories.)