In recent weeks, Brazil has been setting global records for coronavirus deaths and cases. In the most recent week, they surpassed 4,000 deaths on Tuesday, and had over 16,000 last week. This is largely due to President Bolsonaro's unwillingness to accept the seriousness of the virus. He has recently told Brazilians to stop whining, not stay home, keep businesses open, pushing against vaccines, and ensuring there will be no national lockdown. With an increasing number of cases, many health officials in Brazil are worried they could present a threat to the rest of the world. With such high COVID numbers, Brazil has a very high potential to create new strains/variants of COVID, which would increase the time we spend in the pandemic. Brazil's healthcare system is also in severe danger of full collapse, with a waiting list ICU and no guarantee of hospital beds for people in serious accidents. It's quite disappointing how Brazil's president has reacted to the pandemic, but given his history and populist approach, it also isn't surprising at all. Less than 10% of Brazil's citizens are vaccinated, and the government is giving false hope of a quick 2-3 month recovery. It is imperative that Brazil begins to take this pandemic seriously and works toward a recovery.
Kaitlyn Colvin
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/brazil-covid-bolsonaro-threat-1.5980507
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