Brazil’s seven-day average of coronavirus-related deaths has dropped below 1,000 for the first time since January, when a brutal second wave of the pandemic was taking hold of the South American nation.
The country has registered more than 19.8 million COVID-19 cases and more than 555,400 deaths since the crisis began, according to data from Johns Hopkins University – the second-highest death toll in the world after the United States.
With 910 additional deaths registered in the last 24 hours, according to the country’s health ministry, Brazil reported an average of 989 daily deaths over the past week. The last time the figure was below 1,000 was on January 20, when it sat at 981.
While COVID-19 deaths and infections have dropped in recent weeks, and the rate of vaccinations has increased, health experts are warning that a new surge could be on the way in part due to the spread of the highly contagious
At the same time, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a coronavirus sceptic who continues to downplay the seriousness of COVID-19, has faced mounting pressure to account for his handling of the crisis.
