Brazil’s brutal rise in COVID-19 deaths will soon surpass the worst of a January record wave in the United States, scientists predict, with fatalities rising above 4,000 a day for the first time on Tuesday as the outbreak hospitals overwhelms.
The total death toll in Brazil only follows the US outbreak, with nearly 337,000 deaths, according to Department of Health data, compared to more than 555,000 deaths in the United States.
But with health care in Brazil at breaking point, the country could exceed the total number of deaths in the US, despite a population two-thirds that of the United States, two experts told Reuters.
“It is a nuclear reactor that has caused a chain reaction and is no longer under control. It’s a biological Fukushima, ”said Miguel Nicolelis, a Brazilian physician and professor at Duke University who is closely monitoring the virus.
On Tuesday, the Health Department reported a further 4,195 COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, well above the country’s previous one-day record. Brazil has been recording daily death records every week since late February as a more contagious local variety and lean social distance efforts fuel an uncontrolled outbreak.
With massive vaccinations curbing the US outbreak, Brazil has become the epicenter of the pandemic, contributing about one in four deaths per day worldwide, according to an analysis by Reuters.
President Jair Bolsonaro has withdrawn from wearing masks and lockdowns that public health experts say are the best way to reduce the transmission of viruses.
The country dragged its feet last year as the world rushed to secure vaccines, delaying the launch of a national immunization program.
Despite the recent rise, Brazilian officials insist the country could return to something resembling business as usual soon.
“We think Brazil will probably be back up and running in two or three months,” Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said at an online event on Tuesday. “Sure, economic activity is likely to slow down a bit, but it will be much, much less than the decline we suffered last year … and much, much shorter.”
Bolsonaro has responded to mounting political pressure with a dramatic shake-up of half a dozen ministries, giving loyalists a key role in what could be a tough reelection campaign against his political nemesis next year.