Brazil is the second most affected country behind the United States (File)
Rio de Janeiro:
Brazil said on Sunday it had recorded more than 50,000 deaths from the coronavirus epidemic as well as about one million infections, while the second most affected country in the world is fighting to fight the disease.
The Department of Health has reported 641 new deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the number to 50,617, with 1,085,038 recorded infections.
Brazil is the second most affected country behind the United States, with nearly 120,000 deaths and more than 2.2 million cases.
President Jair Bolsonaro, who compared the virus to a “small flu”, has opposed state and local authorities over the use of home support measures and business closures to contain it.
The far-right leader maintains that the economic impact of such measures is likely to be worse than the virus itself.
The spread of COVID-19 is accelerating in Latin America, with Mexico, Peru and Chile all being hard hit.
Mexico has registered 170,000 cases and 20,349 deaths.
Peru killed 8,000 people on Sunday as it prepares to reopen shopping centers on Monday after 99 days in detention.
Argentina left 1,000 dead on Sunday, highlighting the region’s problems.
Chile almost doubled its number of coronavirus deaths on Saturday to 7,144 under a new counting method that includes probable deaths from COVID-19.
Experts say the subtest means the actual numbers are probably much higher.
