Contrasting photos highlight epicentre's woes amid grim virus milestone
While thousands flocked to beaches across Brazil over the weekend, the coronavirus-ravaged nation reached a grim COVID-19 milestone.
The South American epicentre became only the second country to surpass 50,000 coronavirus deaths on Sunday.
Brazil now has a total of 1,085,038 confirmed cases and 50,617 deaths, its Health Ministry confirmed.
Alarming images from Leme beach next to Rio de Janeiro’s famous Copacabana beach on Sunday shows hundreds of beachgoers seemingly carefree despite the devastating effects of the virus on the country.
Contrasting pictures shot on the same day in Sao Paulo, about 440km away, paint a completely different picture.
The harrowing images show workers covered head to toe in protective gear lowering a coffin into a grave surrounded by dozens of other graves awaiting the virus’s next victims.
President Bolsonaro attracts more critics as virus spreads
There have been more than 1200 deaths on four of the last seven days in the country, as the nation struggles to juggle the outbreak with its rising political instability and crippled economy.
Experts say the true numbers in Brazil are a lot higher because of a lack of widespread testing.
The virus’s rapid spread has eroded support for right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro and has raised fears of economic collapse after years of anaemic growth.
Mr Bolsonaro, sometimes called the “Tropical Trump,” has been widely criticised for his handling of the crisis. The country still has no permanent health minister after losing two since April, following clashes with the president.
The president has shunned social distancing, calling it a job-killing measure more dangerous than the virus itself. He has also promoted two anti-malarial drugs as remedies, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, despite little evidence they work.
He has been keen to return a sense of normality to Brazil to help save its dwindling economy, yet experts believe lifting restrictions will cause the virus to surge once again.
‘Situation in Brazil is severe’
Margareth Dalcolmo, a clinical researcher and professor of respiratory medicine at the state-funded Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Rio de Janeiro, believes the reopening in major cities and the virus traveling by road into Brazil’s heartland will keep the pressure on the country’s health system.
“The risk in the interior now is very big,” she said.
”Our health system just can’t solve the most serious cases of COVID in many places of the countryside.”
Dr Mike Ryan, the World Health Organization’s executive director, said the situation in Brazil is “still quite severe”.
On Sunday, Mr Bolsonaro said the military serves the will of the people and its mission is to defend democracy, adding fuel to a raging debate about the armed forces’ role amid rumbling fears of political fragility.
His comments came on the same day his supporters and detractors gathered in cities across the country, in a stark symbol of the polarization in Latin America’s largest country.
with Reuters
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