Brazil Leads While Covid-19 Sets New World Record in 24 Hours

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Data published on Sunday by the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) show an unprecedented number of new cases in 24 hours. In the period considered by the organization, there were 189,000 additional cases, with Brazil leading the way in both infections and deaths.

This week, the W.H.O. will mark six months since the first case was reported, on December 31st, 2019. However, this mark is expected to be used by the W.H.O. officials on Monday to alert that there are no signs that the crisis is losing steam.

An appeal will be launched from Geneva for governments to take on their responsibilities, overcome internal differences, and establish global agreements. There will also be a call for governments to significantly push for testing and for social protection and distancing measures to be maintained.

To reinforce its argument, the organization will stress the latest figures, the worst since the start of the crisis.

The W.H.O. data are lagging by at least one day, as it needs to collect information from 193 countries to make its world map. Thus, the official number of cases still stands at 9.8 million, while according to other databases, the total has already passed the mark of ten million infections and 500,000 deaths.

With 46,800 cases, Brazil is the world leader in the number of new cases in the 24-hour period. The Americans rank second, with 44,000. Alone, Brazil recorded almost three times the daily number of cases in Europe, with 16,500 new cases in the last 24 hours. However, the country represents only 2.3 percent of the world’s population.

The world broke yet another daunting record, reported on Friday. On that date there were 170,000 new cases. The W.H.O. warns that the world took two months to reach the first hundred thousand cases, which today occurs almost every twelve hours.

Regarding the number of victims, the 24-hour period totaled 4,600 new deaths, with 990 of them occurring in Brazil.

Global threat

Half a year after China’s first official alert, on December 31st, 2019, and months after the global emergency declared by the W.H.O. in late January, the situation in Brazil is largely the center of attention in the debates behind closed doors in Geneva.

With 200 million inhabitants and the infection uncontrolled, the country is considered by experts as a “threat” in the fight against the pandemic, alongside the US.

In general, and from the first cases, Brazil ranks second in terms of deaths and infections. But for experts, it is not the aggregate figures since the start of the crisis that provides a better picture of the situation.

Official EU data show that over the past 30 days, Brazil has led in new cases, with 875,000, almost 100,000 above the second-place country, the US. In terms of deaths, the country also ranks first in the last month, with a total of 30,600.

Over the past seven days, Brazil has still led the world in terms of deaths, according to W.H.O. data. In 14 days, the virus’ incubation period, Brazil also ranks first. There were 460,000 infections in this period, 20 percent of all reported cases in the world.

Yet it is not only the high figures that are worrisome. For international organizations, there is currently no clear plan in Brazil on how to overcome the crisis, the population’s fatigue over quarantine makes the measure increasingly vulnerable and there is an insufficient increase in the number of tests.

Brazil’s exclusion from the list of countries that will be allowed to fly back to Europe from July 1st is only a sign of how the world is reacting. The EU pledges to introduce a new list with new countries every two weeks. But Brussels’ diplomats confirm that there is strong resistance against a potential inclusion of Brazil in the immediate future.

Source: UOL