Brazil had record for coronavirus deaths in one day

Brazil recorded 1,582 coronavirus deaths this Friday on the deadliest day since the start of the pandemic, on the first anniversary of the detection of the first case, and while the president Jair Bolsonaro attacked the use of masks, the southern states decreed the total closure of activities due to the dramatic worsening of the situation.

The neighboring country, the second most grieving in the world behind the United States, has reached 251,661 dead, after adding 1,582 dead in the last hours.

The figure surpassed the previous record of 1,554 deaths recorded on July 29, 2020, ANSA news agency reported.

In parallel, the governments of the southern states of Santa Catarina and Paraná have decreed the total closure of the activity in the coming days in a new attempt to stop the uncontrolled spread of the pathogen.

In a statement, the government of Paraná said that, from this Saturday to March 8, “the operation of non-essential services and activities throughout the state is suspended”, as well as the movement of people in the streets between 8 a.m. and 8 hours. : 00 pm 5 local time.

The regional government justified the measures by the “sudden increase” in the rates of infections and deaths, as well as by the proximity of a “strangulation of the public health system”.

According to data from local authorities, the occupancy rate of intensive care units (ICUs) is 94% and currently in Paraná, 578 people are waiting for a bed.

Santa Catarina is in a similar situation, although it will not apply such restrictive measures: the total closure of the activity will be limited to the weekends to come, from this evening to the early hours of Monday and from 5 to 8 March, local media and Sputnik news agency reported.

In recent days, other states like São Paulo and Bahia have tightened their social isolation measures in the face of the worsening pandemic among the South American giant, which already exceeds 250,000 dead and 10.3 million sick.

This Friday marks one year of the first case of Covid-19 detected on February 26 of last year in a 61-year-old man, residing in São Paulo, who had traveled to Italy.

Despite the terrifying statistics, Bolsonaro assured in the last hours that the use of masks to avoid contagion can have side effects, such as harming the “perception of happiness”.

“Studies are starting to appear, I will not go into details, on the use of masks, a German university says they are harmful to children,” he added.

The president spoke without a mask, seated next to two collaborators in the official residence in Brasilia, from where he made a live broadcast on social media.

“I have my opinion on the masks, each one has his own”, insisted Bolsonaro, in statements reproduced by the newspaper Folha de San Pablo.

He also said that “side effects” of the mask were starting to appear, and cited “headache, difficulty concentrating, decreased perception of happiness, discouragement”.

Bolsonaro said Brazilians “want to go back to work” and blamed governors and mayors for “forcing” people to stay at home.