Brazil has taken an unhappy step in the coronavirus pandemic. It exceeded two million instances on Thursday. They now have 2.01 million other people inflamed with coronavirus, officially. Even its president, Jair Bolsonaro, continues to suffer with Covid-19.
The infection rate in Brazil decreased for 3 full days from July 10, even higher on July 14 with only about 42,000 cases. On July 15, they had 40,000 positive tests.
So far, another 76,688 people have died from the disease, with a mortality rate of 3.8%, which is comparable to the U.S. mortality rate. And higher than mortality rates in China (5.44%) and the United Kingdom (15%).
Brazil’s infection curve is declining.
The virus arrived in Brazil in February, just weeks after Carnival celebrations. However, it is transparent whether these giant meetings were at the root of the epidemic in Brazil. What is known is that the first reported cases of Covid-19 were all of Brazilians who returned from Italy on business trips.
Five months later, Brazil is still out of danger.
An accumulation in is one of the reasons for the higher numbers.
Recently there are new outbreak centers, with the capital being the most pressure position after the virus began in the states of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.
Some governors have taken closing measures and the face mask is now worn in public. The school was canceled for months, some schools would possibly return after the winter break in July in the southern states.
Unlike some parts of the United States, when schools are closed in Brazil, there is no online education for K-12 students, especially in the public school system. As a result, Brazilians have been off campus and uneducated almost every day since March.
Paulo Medeiro, a sub-secretary for Bolsonaro’s Chief of Staff, told residents of one hard hit area in the capital — known as Ceilândia — that hospitals nearby were approaching their saturation point.
“The whole world is dealing with this pandemic,” he said. “For sure we will do all we can to make sure we can increase the number of beds, but we will reach our limit,” he said.
Local businesses want to reopen on schedule. That is supposed to take place next week after lockdowns were imposed on July 9. “We need your help,” Medeiro reportedly told protesters on Thursday. “We have to unit. The (Bolsonaro Administration) is working on getting you all back to a normal life,” he said.
Indeed, much of the Americas is waiting for this moment as well.
Worth noting, the first SARS coronavirus was discovered in November 2002 and then ceased to be a problem for China 8 months later.
If this new version of SARS follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, then perhaps, if the world is lucky, it will be gone in a similar time frame.
In China, where the virus was first discovered in December, only minor outbreaks have been reported in one section of Beijing last month. Nationwide, there are no cases of the coronavirus, at least officially. We are now in the 8th month of SARS 2.0 in China. There has been no second wave in Wuhan, the viral epicenter of the pandemic.
Like the U.S., the first cases were reported around February. If this lasts 8 months, we are dealing with this until October. Then, hopefully, it never comes back again, just like the first round.
Most epidemiologists believe it will come back next year.
“As time goes on, it will become increasingly difficult to maintain the kind of aid that governments have implemented,” said Luiz Demello, an economist at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. It did not decide on Brazil, however, Brazil is in the same spending boat as all other countries, from Europe to its corner of the country in South America. “We are looking for poor countries where debt to GDP has risen by 15 percentage points, more than the wonderful monetary crisis is increasing. If there is a wave at the moment next year, all these governments will have to maintain the security measures they have in place, and the question will be whether this is more sustainable”.
I’ve spent 20 years as a reporter for the best in the business, including as a Brazil-based staffer for WSJ. Since 2011, I focus on business and investing in the big