RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil reported 2,723 new deaths from Covid-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total number of fatalities from the disease in the country to 479,515, the Health Ministry said.
There were 85,748 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 17,122,877.
Brazil has the second-highest number of deaths from covid-19 globally, behind only the United States, and the third-highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases, behind the United States and India.
However, these numbers are disputed by Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro. He believes there are de facto only half as many deaths in Brazil.
In a bulletin released Wednesday, the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) said the current pandemic scenario indicates a high risk that requires “attention and caution.” According to the institution, the small fluctuations in the number of cases in recent weeks show the persistence of intense viral transmission.
“The combination of the high number of cases with a slight decrease in the number of deaths and a high occupancy of Covid-19 adult ICU beds in the Unified Health System (SUS) in most states is very concerning,” Fiocruz said.