Brazil has more coronavirus cases and deaths than China, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The disease is sweeping through Brazil and inundating hospitals and morgues. Health experts say the cases will keep rising as people continue to go to work and interact.
The country has reported 101,147 cases and 7,025 deaths. Infections are rising by more than 5,000 a day and deaths by nearly 500, the newspaper reports.
With a lack of testing, experts estimate the actual number of positives cases is much higher than what is being reported.
Brazil has tested only about 1,600 per million people, far below the 20,200 tests per million done in the U.S. so far and the 30,000 or more per million in parts of Europe, according to research firm Statista.
A University of São Paulo study concluded the number of coronavirus infections in Brazil since the pandemic began could be as high as 1.6 million as of Sunday.
Dr. Alves from Ribeirão Preto Medical School, who worked on that study, told The Wall Street Journal that, “Brazil is already the global epicenter of the coronavirus.”
Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro has been hesitant to enact a stay-at-home order. He recently fired his health minister, who suggested implementing mitigation efforts.
Bolsonaro has called the coronavirus a “little flu’’ and said that athletes such as himself were immune. He has been seen walking in crowds and shaking hands. He has encouraged businesses that were closed by local leaders to reopen to save the economy.
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