Brazil already has the highest COVID-19 death rate in the Americas

Brazil often claims its high death toll from COVID-19 is due to its large population, but The second wave of the pandemic has already made it the country with the highest death rate in the Americas and the southern hemisphere.

The United States is the country with the most deaths from the coronavirus in the world (nearly 570,000), followed by Brazil (with approximately 375,000).

But terms relative, Brazil, with 176 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, has taken the lead in recent days against its worst-affected neighbors: Peru (174/100 000), United States (172) and Mexico (165), according to data updated daily by AFP Yes Worldometer based on official sources.

With regard to the other Latin American countries, Argentina records just over 130 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, just below the Chile (131/100 000), and far from Uruguay (56/100000).

The death rate in Brazil, with 212 million inhabitants, It can also surpass that of the United Kingdom (187/100 000) and Italy (194) in less than a month and be only behind Belgium and a handful of Central and Eastern European countries, according to projections by demographer José Eustáquio Alves.

“Brazil broke all death records in March and April [por coronavirus] and made a leap in the world ranking, ”he told the AFP the consultant, retired professor from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

Brazil “now has the highest death rate in the Americas and in the entire southern hemisphere,” added.

As for contagions, Brazil ranks third in absolute numbers, with nearly 14 million infections, behind the United States and India.

Third wave?

Last week, the curve seems to have “stabilized on a high plateau”, below 3,000 deaths per day, Alves said.

But “There could be a new wave due to the onset of winter [austral]” and “the relaxation of social isolation measures by governors and mayors,” he warned.

Many countries in the region and in Europe have closed their borders to Brazilian travelers, due to a local variant of the virus, called P1, which is considered to be much more contagious.

Overall, the highest death rates from COVID-19 are recorded in Czech Republic (267/100 000 h), Hungary (265) and six other countries in the region, as well as in Belgium, all with more than 200 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.

“These are countries with a cold climate and a fairly old, more vulnerable demographic structure” Unlike Brazil, where the population over 65 represents less than 10% of the total, observed Alves.

A recent study showed that more than half of Brazilians admitted to intensive care units in March were under 40, against 14.6% during the first wave of the pandemic a year ago.

To these factors is added a slow vaccination: less than 13% of Brazilians received the first dose and 5% the second.

Under investigation

Brazil’s Supreme Court last week ordered the Senate to install a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (ICC) on the causes of the health disaster.

This CPI will start its work next week, with the look at the policy of President Jair Bolsonaro, who denied the severity of the pandemic, he encouraged crowds without wearing masks, questioned the effectiveness of vaccines and opposed social isolation measures citing their negative economic impact.

“The ICC will be very important because it will investigate errors”, otherwise “the death rate could have been drastically reduced,” Alves said.

With information from AFP

KEEP READING: