RIO DE JANEIRO – The daily death toll from Covid-19 in Brazil reached a record high of 1,582 on Thursday, according to a news consortium survey by local health departments. The painful milestone came when President Jair Bolsonaro faced face masks, despite compelling scientific evidence that they are effective in preventing infections.
An increase in coronavirus infections in several states in Brazil, which officials say is driven by more contagious variants, has overwhelmed hospitals across the country.
While epidemiologists and health officials are warning of a worsening crisis in the coming weeks, Mr. Bolsonaro focused on masks during his weekly Facebook speech on Thursday. Referring to an unspecified German study, the president said that masks are bad for children and that wearing them can lead to headaches, concentration problems and a “diminished perception of happiness.”
Mr. Bolsonaro has been criticized domestically and abroad for his cavalier response to the coronavirus pandemic. He questions the use of quarantine measures, social distance and doubts about vaccines and says he does not intend to get a chance.
While new cases and deaths in a number of other countries hit hard by the pandemic, including the United States, are declining, Brazil is in the grip of a second wave that began in November and shows no sign of easing.
The country vaccinated medical professionals and the elderly last month, but the campaign began slowly as the government struggled to procure enough doses to vaccinate its 212 million citizens quickly.
This week, the Covid death toll in Brazil exceeded 250,000, ranking second in the U.S. count of more than 500,000 deaths. Brazilian health minister Eduardo Pazuello said on Thursday that the country had entered a ‘new stage of the pandemic’ because of variants that he said were three times more contagious than earlier strains of the virus. “This is the reality we live in Brazil today,” he said.