Is Brazil the next big coronavirus hotspot?
- Hospitals have reached their limits in parts of the country
- Mass graves have been dug as death roll rises
Brazil is emerging as potentially the next big hotspot for the coronavirus amid President Jair Bolsonaro’s insistence that it is just a “little flu” and that there is no need for the sharp restrictions that have slowed the infection’s spread in Europe and the US.
As some US states and European countries moved gradually Monday to ease their limits on movement and commerce, the intensifying outbreak in Brazil – Latin America’s biggest country, with 211 million people – pushed some hospitals to the breaking point, with signs that a growing number of victims are now dying at home.
“We have all the conditions here for the pandemic to become much more serious,” said Paulo Brandao, a virologist at the University of Sao Paulo.
Brazil has officially reported about 4,500 deaths and almost 67,000 confirmed infections. But the true numbers there, as in many other countries, are believed to be vastly higher given the lack of testing and the many people without severe symptoms who haven’t sought hospital care.
Some scientists said over 1 million in Brazil are probably infected. The country is heading into winter, which can worsen respiratory illnesses.
