Brazil Covid-19 death toll crosses 350,000 mark

Rio de Janeiro, Apr 10 (EFE).-Brazil Saturday registered new 2,616 Covid-19 deaths, taking the overall pandemic toll to 351,334 as the nation battles collapse of its health services with hospitals running run out of capacity.

According to the health ministry, with 71,832 new cases registered in the last 24 hours, the country now has a total caseload of 13.4 million infections.

The death toll in the last 24 hours is less than the day before (3,695) and almost half of Thursday’s 4,249 deaths.

The country of 210 million people is the second worst-hit nation by the virus after the United States, which has 31.8 million cases and more than 575,000 deaths.

Some regions like Rio de Janeiro relaxed their restrictions Friday despite the alarming numbers and concerns over a more contagious variant that has fueled a surge in infections.

The relaxations allowed a weekend that saw bars, restaurants, shops, and tourist sites reopened after a 10-day closure.

Beaches and parks remain closed to prevent large crowds from gathering.

But several Cariocas, as residents are known, came out to sunbathe on the sands of the iconic Ipanema and Copacabana beaches.

City mayor Eduardo Paes urged the people to respect the rules, wear masks and maintain minimum social distances to avoid the virus spread.

He said if the numbers of deaths and infections kept rising, the restrictions would return.

Experts have warned that the pandemic has led to the collapse of the health systems across the country.

Vaccination delays have also sparked concerns that the situation may take more than expected to improve.

According to the health ministry, more than 25 million people have received covid vaccines so far.

Some 19.8 million people, or 9.4 percent of the population, have received the first dose, and another 5.5 million got their second jabs. EFE

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