Ministry of Health Wants to Recount Covid-19 Deaths Alleging “Mistakes”

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Ministry of Health wants to recount the deaths by Covid-19 in the country, using the argument that there have been many more deaths by other diseases, which were mistakenly registered as by Covid-19.

According to the Ministry, states and municipalities have been manipulating information to benefit from federal government resources.

So far, no evidence of these alleged errors has been made by the Ministry, which has not yet officially commented on the matter. Contrarily, there is a generalized understanding in Brazil that the problem is the opposite: thousands of dead have been buried without the cause of death properly ascertained, so that the total number of Covid-19 victims should be greater.

The Ministry of Health reported that, through last Thursday, June 4th, there were more than 4,000 deaths still under investigation, in addition to those already confirmed. These data were no longer contained in the official report for Friday, June 5th.

After the Ministry of Health deferred the release of data on the coronavirus and failed to disclose the total number of deaths and infections, the government website that provides data on the disease in the country was shut down and remains unavailable.

On social media, President Jair Bolsonaro said that the portfolio “has adapted the disclosure of data on cases and deaths” to “greater accuracy”. The Ministry of Health’s website disclosing coronavirus data has been offline since yesterday.

On his Twitter, Bolsonaro said that the Ministry has chosen to release the data at 10 PM, rather than earlier in the evening, to avoid “underreporting and inconsistencies” and that the routines and flows are being “adapted” to ensure the “optimum collection” of daily data, which requires reports from state secretariats and checking the figures.

Throughout the fight against the disease, information collection has evolved with training and laboratory services. Thus, the measures allow more accurate data on each region to be collected.

On Friday, when asked about the change in the schedule outside the Alvorada Palace, the President said: “The story in Jornal Nacional (evening news) is over.”

On Twitter, Bolsonaro also tried to justify the fact that the Ministry of Health no longer reports the accumulated numbers of cases and deaths caused by the coronavirus. “By accumulating data, apart from failing to show that the largest portion is no longer infected with the disease, they don’t reflect the moment in the country,” he said.

The President also said that “other actions are underway to improve the notification of cases and diagnostic confirmation,” without specifying what those measures were.

Bolsonaro also said on social media the collection of information has evolved and allows more precise data on each region to be obtained.

“The disclosure of 24-hour data allows us to monitor the reality of the country at this time and define appropriate strategies for serving the population. The case curve shows situations such as the most critical scenarios, the reversals of pictures, and the need for preparation,” wrote the President.

Faced with the government’s delay in releasing the figures, Bruno Dantas, Minister of the Federal Court of Auditors (TCU), said he is considering proposing to the Court that it collect and release the data daily, by 6 PM. On his Twitter, Dantas said he will make the suggestion to the Court’s judges. It would be up to the body to collect the data from the state accounting courts and consolidate the information.

“With the new challenges in disclosing national data on Covid-19 infections, cures, and deaths, institutions should help. I am considering proposing to the @TCUofficial and to the state audit courts that we request and consolidate state data for daily disclosure by 6 PM,” Dantas wrote.

Source: Exame