Brazil hits grim new Covid-19 death record

BBC News shows that Brazil has recorded more than 4,000 Covid-related deaths in 24 hours for the first time, as a more contagious variant fuels a surge in cases.

Hospitals are overcrowded, with people dying as they wait for treatment in some cities, and the health system is on the brink of collapse in many areas.

The total death toll of Brazil is now almost 337,000, second only to the USA.

But President Jair Bolsonaro continues to oppose any lockdown measures to curb the outbreak.

He argues that the damage to the economy would be worse than the effects of the virus itself, and has tried to reverse some of the restrictions imposed by local authorities in the courts.

Brazil is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At 8.5 million square kilometers and with over 211 million people, Brazil is the world's 5th-largest country by area and the sixth most populous. Its capital is Brasília, and its most populous city is São Paulo. The federation is composed of the union of the 26 states and the Federal District. It is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language and the only one in the Americas; it is also one of the most multicultural and ethnically diverse nations, due to over a century of mass immigration from around the world; as well as the most populous Roman Catholic-majority country.

The COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil is part of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was confirmed to have spread to Brazil on 25 February 2020, when a man from São Paulo tested positive for the virus. The disease had spread to every federative unit of Brazil by 21 March. On 19 June 2020, the country reported its 1 millionth case; at this time, there had been nearly 49,000 reported deaths. As of 25 March 2021, Brazil, with more than 12 million confirmed cases and over 300,000 deaths, has the second-highest number of confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19 in the world, behind only the United States.

The dangerous pandemic has triggered a variety of responses from federal, state and local governments, having an impact on politics, education, the environment, and the economy. On 27 March 2020 Brazil announced a temporary ban on foreign air travelers and most state governors have imposed quarantines to prevent the spread of the deadly virus.