Even Cristo Redentor wears a mask. But everyone does not see the need for this in Brazil. Image: AP
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9 points that show why you don’t want to be in Brazil at the moment
The corona virus is on the rise in Brazil. In by far the largest South American country, the situation for people and nature is getting worse every day – and this with a huge unreported figure.
Brazil has a small number of Corona cases in relation to its population – according to the official figures. However, the reality looks less rosy. The number of unreported cases is high and the number of cases is increasing rapidly.
In addition, President Jair Bolsonaro’s terse attitude causes anger among the population. He minimizes the danger and even ensures mass accumulations himself.
>> Corona virus: All news in the live ticker
Number of cases
Let’s start with the reported corona cases as a whole, regardless of country sizes or test capacities.
Only the one in increases steeper than the Brazilian curve of the case numbers Russia. But there is one important difference: in Russia, a lot more testing has been done in the last few days than in Brazil. More on this below in point 4.
New infections per day
One thing is particularly noticeable when it comes to new infections per day: the curve is rapidly increasing. It has literally exploded in the last 5 days. While there were around 7,000 new cases yesterday, over 10,000 have already been reported today.
This is the situation in Russia
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Corona falls per inhabitant
The top two curves paint a dramatic picture of the situation in Brazil. If we put the numbers in relation to the population, things look much better for the 200 million state. The increase is less than in Russia. However, a significant deterioration can be expected in the next few days.
Number of tests and deaths
The number of tests is very small in Brazil. According to the Worldometer, around 340,000 were carried out by Thursday. That is around 1,600 per million inhabitants.
Although this is similar in size to other South American countries, European countries, on the other hand, carried out 30,000 to 40,000 tests per million inhabitants; in Russia there are currently 34,000. The number of unreported cases is likely to be massively higher.
Medical workers demonstrate that they lack important protective materials to work with. Image: AP
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This is also shown by the death toll from Brazil – currently around 600 deaths per day. The G1 portal writes about the “worst day” – but this is unlikely to have been reached. With a total of 9188 deaths, Brazil is already in sixth place worldwide.
This is what Bolsonaro does
President Jair Bolsonaro did not take the virus seriously at first. He mocked it as “little flu”, media invention and “hysteria”. In the meantime, he was tested twice for the corona virus, both tests were negative – but he did not publicly show the test result, which brought him criticism. On Wednesday it was decided that he had to show this. This has never happened before.
Jair Bolsonaro is still not taking the corona virus seriously. Image: AP
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Even now Bolsonaro does not want to know anything about measures, but calls for a return to normal. “Brazil must not stand still!” Demands the right-wing populist president. He may not abide by distance rules.
Bolsonaro’s response to the question of a journalist who asked him about the dramatic number of cases in Brazil a week ago also caused a stir: «And? I’m so sorry. What should I do? I am Messiah, but I do no miracles. » Messiah is Bolsonaro’s middle name.
Bolsonaro dismissed his health minister on March 16 due to differences of opinion.
Activities
There are few government measures. Foreigners are not allowed to enter until the end of May. Otherwise, mainly the states or individual cities acted. Schools have been closed, some of them have to wear a mask. Some states want to call the complete lockdown.
Empty streets are also part of the current picture in Brazil. Image: AP
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Supporters of Bolsonaro protested on the streets in some parts of the exit restrictions. Quarantine measures are violent for many residents because they often live from hand to mouth.
Healthcare system
The health system in Brazil was not in top condition in many places even before the pandemic – now the shortcomings are becoming more apparent every day. The mismanagement of these institutions has also contributed to this in recent years.
Cemeteries in Brazil hardly come with funerals. Image: AP
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Various hospitals and cemeteries operate in various cities and states at their borders or have already collapsed. Mass graves are sometimes shoveled.
Mass funeral in Brazil. Picture: EPA
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However, new health minister Nelson Teich said on Monday that calls for emergency hospitals in the Manaus region in the rainforest were exaggerated. The city is currently the worst affected in the country. Teich promised the region at least 267 medical employees for support and protective material.
Corona virus – the situation worldwide:
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Forest fires
Deforestation and (laid) forest fires in the Brazilian rainforest increased massively as a result of the corona crisis. Compared to the first three months of 2019 by a whopping 50 percent. In terms of area, this corresponds to Lake Constance about one and a half times.
As the “Diário Oficial”, a kind of official gazette, writes on Thursday, this is the case three months earlier than last year, the mission is scheduled for May 11 to June 10 in the nine states of the Amazon and can be done as in last year to be extended to up to 60 days. According to environmentalists, the presence of the armed forces can curb the illegal destruction of the forest in the short term. But they also warn that the army cannot replace the work of environmental agencies.
Many forest fires are currently raging in the rainforest. The military should help now. Picture from August 2019. Picture: EPA
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Bolsonaro has been criticized for being accused of creating the political climate in which lumberjacks, gold prospectors, farmers and other intruders into protected areas are encouraged to do more deforestation and slash-and-burn. The head of state has repeatedly made it clear that he primarily connects the Amazon region with untapped economic potential. Since taking office in January 2019, he has therefore deliberately weakened the environmental agency as well as the indigenous agency, the staff and controls have become fewer. The Covid 19 pandemic has exacerbated this trend.
Indigenous peoples are particularly affected by this, as more and more people penetrate their areas and most of them have fewer or different defense systems than our (“civilized”) bodies.
Favelas
The situation in Favelas is particularly precarious. In the poor settlements of large cities, social distancing is impossible. There have also been reports of unclean water in various locations.
Social distancing is possible in the small houses and narrow streets of the favelas. Picture: EPA
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As in other countries, the following applies in Brazil: the poorest are hit much harder by this crisis than other social classes.
(With material from sda)
The overview of the situation in Switzerland:
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What you need to know about the corona virus:
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