Cases of the new coronavirus are overwhelming hospitals, morgues and cemeteries across Brazil as Latin America’s largest nation veers closer to becoming one of the world’s pandemic hot spots.
Medical officials in Rio de Janeiro and at least four other major cities have warned that their hospital systems are on the verge of collapse, or already too overwhelmed to take any more patients.
Health experts expect the number of infections in the country of 211 million people will be much higher than what has been reported because of insufficient, delayed testing.
So far, the health ministry has confirmed nearly 53,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 3,600 deaths. By official counts, the country had its worst day yet on Thursday, with about 3,700 new cases and more than 400 deaths, and Friday was nearly as grim.
Experts warned that paltry testing means the true number of infections is far greater.
Meanwhile, President Jair Bolsonaro has shown no sign of wavering from his insistence that COVID-19 is a relatively minor disease and that broad social-distancing measures are not needed to stop it. He has said only Brazilians at high risk should be isolated.
In Manaus, the biggest city in the Amazon, officials said a cemetery has been forced to dig mass graves because there have been so many deaths. Workers have been burying 100 corpses a day — triple the pre-virus average of burials.
In another development, Brazil’s popular justice minister has resigned from President Jair Bolsonaro’s government, accusing him of political interference.
Sergio Moro, a former judge who oversaw the country’s biggest anti-corruption probe, quit after the president fired the federal police chief.
The dismissal of federal police chief Mauricio Valeixo was announced, with no further details, in the official gazette on Friday.
On Thursday, Mr Moro had threatened to resign if Mr Valeixo – his ally – were dismissed, but then said he would stay if he were allowed to choose a replacement.
Earlier this month, the president sacked his Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta for his response to the coronavirus pandemic. The minister had advocated social distancing, which Mr Bolsonaro has scorned.
Fighting corruption was a central issue for Jair Bolsonaro in his 2018 presidential campaign.
