Health

Brazil surpasses 355,000 Covid deaths with current death rate 3,000 per day

Sao Paulo, Brazil, Apr 13 (EFE).- Brazil registered 3,808 Covid-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the official nationwide coronavirus death toll since the pandemic began to 358,425, the government said Tuesday.

In its daily announcement, the Health Ministry reported 82,186 newly confirmed coronavirus cases, bringing the total caseload so far to 13,599,994 as the country is facing the worst phase of the pandemic.

Brazil is the No. 2 country in terms of deaths and confirmed cases, exceeded only by the United States, although currently the South American giant is the world epicenter of the pandemic with more than 3,000 people dying of Covid each day, on average.

The fact that the pandemic is out of control in Brazil has raised international concerns and on Tuesday France joined the list of countries that have suspended “until further notice” flights from Brazil to try and prevent the spread of the more virulent Brazilian variant of the virus.

The flight suspension must be approved in the French National Assembly and the Senate before going into effect on Wednesday and the announcement heralds a change of stance by Paris, which up to now had opposed suspending its air links.

“The situation in Brazil is absolutely tragic and the danger of the variant in question poses real difficulties for us,” French Prime Minister Jean Castex warned Tuesday.

Health authorities believe that the Brazilian variant, known as P.1 and which has been found to be up to three times more transmissible than its antecedents, has – along with other factors – driven the recent explosion of coronavirus cases in Brazil.

The spread of the virus has brought Brazil’s health care system to the verge of collapse in a number of regions, including Sao Paulo, the richest and most populous state as well as the one possessing the best hospital infrastructure.

Sao Paulo, the Brazilian state with the most Covid cases and deaths so far, on Tuesday opened a new tent hospital in the capital to attend to Covid-19 victims, the 12th to open its doors in the state during the second wave of the pandemic.

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