Brazil has recorded 2,815 new deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and topped 290,000

Brazil reported 2,815 new deaths from COVID-19 on Friday, resulting in a total death toll of over 290,000. Specifically, the council of state health ministries said the figure stood at 290,314. This is the second highest figure since the start of the pandemic, only behind the 2,841 recorded last Wednesday.

The report too reported more than 90,000 daily infections, so the total number now stands at 11.87 million. Daily deaths and positive cases are the highest in the world and once again confirm the South American country as the current epicenter of the pandemic.

In cumulative terms, it ranks second on the dark list, only behind the United States, which on Friday recorded 29.7 million infections and more than 540,000 deaths according to statistics reported by Johns Hopkins University.

However, the health realities of the two countries are contrasted. As administration Joe Biden celebrated reaching its goal of delivering 100 million vaccines more than 40 days ahead of schedule and anticipating the possibility of doubling that number, America’s largest scientific research center Latin America, the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, said this week what Brazil is experiencing “the biggest health and hospital collapse in its history” and has called for “urgent” measures to stop the contagions.

This scenario has already materialized in the city of São Paulo: on Friday, nearly 500 COVID-19 patients are waiting for a bed to be released. “This is an extremely serious moment,” São Paulo Mayor Bruno Covas told a press conference. He also confirmed the first death in the city of a coronavirus patient due to lack of free bed in the intensive care unit (ICU).

He also assured that the mayor’s office is working to increase the capacity of the hospital, but stressed that the situation is “very difficult” to the point that the private network has requested the transfer of patients to the public.

With nearly 570,000 positives and nearly 20,000 deaths from the coronavirus, São Paulo is the hardest-hit city in Brazil, a country that has become the global epicenter of the pandemic with a daily average of more than 2,000 deaths associated with COVID-19.

The authorities in Rio de Janeiro, for their part, announced on Friday the total closure of its beaches to avoid crowds. Mayor Eduardo Paes reported that during the weekend it will be prohibited “the permanence of individuals on the beach, whether for sport, swimming or for economic activities”.

Parking on the boulevard will also not be allowed – except for neighborhood residents – and entry of tourist buses into the city will be prohibited.

The authorities had already banned on March 5 the operation of bars and shops after 9 p.m. and the permanence of people in the street between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.

Paes said that on Monday will announce “more restrictive measures”, after a scheduled meeting with the scientific committee which advises him. The resuscitation units of the city’s public network record an occupancy rate of 95%, according to the authorities.

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