Brazil Records Over 100,000 Covid-19 Deaths (August 8th)

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Saturday, August 8th, Brazil reached the number of 100,477 deaths from Covid-19 since the start of the novel coronavirus pandemic. According to the Ministry of Health, 905 deaths were recorded over the last 24 hours.

Of the 3,012,412 cases of people infected by the novel coronavirus, 2,094,293 (69.5 percent) have recovered.

A total of 49,970 new cases have been reported by Health Secretariats since Friday, August 7th. The official also shows that the number of people under follow-up stands at 817,642 (21.1 percent).

States

The states with the highest death toll from the novel coronavirus are São Paulo (25,016), Rio de Janeiro (14,070), Ceará (7,951), Pernambuco (6,920), and Pará (5,871).

Tocantins (444), Mato Grosso do Sul (492), Roraima (547), Acre (559), and Amapá (601) are the states with the fewest deaths.

The updated numbers from Paraná have not yet been forwarded to the Ministry. The State Health Secretariat reported that it was “adjusting the figures in the official systems, correcting potential duplications, for instance.”

Official mourning

Through social media, several politicians and officials have commented on the 100,000 deaths in the country. The President of the National Congress, Senator Davi Alcolumbre, classified Saturday as one of the saddest days in the country’s history.

“Brazil records 100,000 lives lost to Covid-19. The National Congress officially decrees a four-day mourning period in solidarity with all Brazilians affected by the pandemic and with the victims of this tragedy,” he said.

Rodrigo Maia, president of the Chamber of Deputies, also expressed his views. “We are living with the pandemic on a daily basis, but we must not remain numb and take these numbers lightly. Each life is unique and it matters. On behalf of the Chamber of Deputies, I once again express my solidarity with the relatives and friends of the victims of this great tragedy,” Maia said on Twitter.

Federal Supreme Court (STF) Chief Justice Dias Toffoli also expressed his sympathy. He decreed a three-day official mourning in the Judiciary.

“We had never experienced a tragedy of this magnitude in our country. They are 100 thousand people who had a name, a profession, projects, and dreams. A hundred thousand lives that certainly left their mark on the world and on the lives of other people. They are daughters and sons who will no longer be with their parents tomorrow. These are parents who will have nothing to celebrate this Sunday,” said the Justice in a statement released on Saturday, on the eve of Fathers’ Day.

In the document, speaking on behalf of the Judiciary and the STF, Toffoli also expressed his deep sadness and solidarity with the victims’ relatives and friends. “In these times of so many fears and losses, both human and material, we are urged to express solidarity and fraternal spirit; to look at each other as fellow men, as companions in this journey,” added the STF Presiding Justice.

SECOM

The Special Secretariat of Social Communication of the Presidency of the Republic commented on the number of deaths by Covid-19 on Twitter. In the message posted, SecomVc says that “All lives matter: those who leave us and those who stay. We lament the Covid deaths, as well as of other diseases. Our prayers and our efforts have the power of a Government that is doing all it can to save lives, with a reaction that serves as a model to the whole world. Brazil is moving forward.”

Demonstration

On Saturday morning, a demonstration on the sands of Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, recalled the Covid-19 deaths in Brazil. The ceremony was organized by Rio de Paz, which posted 100 black wooden crosses and a thousand red balloons.

Rio de Paz founder Antônio Carlos Costa explained the reasons for the demonstration on the organization’s social media. “Public power and society need to answer a question the 100,000 coronavirus deaths have raised: why are we the second country in terms of number of deaths? The rational, exempt, and honest answer to that question, depends on the changes that Brazil needs to undergo in order to be able to live in a country where the sanctity of human life is respected,” he said.

Taxi driver Márcio Antônio do Nascimento Silva, whose son died of Covid-19, also took part in the demonstration. In the prior Rio da Paz act on the pandemic, on June 11th, when a man knocked down a few crosses in the sand, Márcio Antônio, who was passing by the site, decided to put them back in place.

Source: Agência Brasil