Brazil's health ministry revise date of first coronavirus death to March 12

Brazil’s health ministry on June 27 reported that the first laboratory-confirmed death by coronavirus in the country occurred four days earlier than previously recorded. According to a press release by the Brazilian ministry, the patient who died on March 12 was a 57-year-old woman, who was admitted to a public hospital in Sao Paulo the day before. The ministry also informed that another COVID-19 death also took place on March 15. 

The press note further also revealed that seven deaths also occurred between March 16 and 17 in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. However, the ministry is still not clear whether they were newly confirmed COVID-19 deaths which were yet to be added to the official count. The Brazilian health ministry in the press release added that the new details had come to light after it had bought more diagnostic tests and given them to states. 

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The revelation of the apparent new deaths comes amid global criticism of President Jair Bolsonaro’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. The deadly virus has been spreading across the nation rapidly and the health experts recently also warned of the virus returning to major cities. While calling it the ‘boomerang effect’, experts noted that the country lacks specialised medical treatment which is forcing the infected patients into larger urban centres. 

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COVID-19 hits Brazil’s interiors 

The deadly virus has already infected over 1.2 million people in Brazil. The virus has been reportedly spreading mostly in larger cities, however, since late May it has been spreading faster in the interior of the country. According to reports, last week the country also reported that 60 per cent of the new cases were registered in smaller cities. The Brazilian health ministry further noted that the deaths are also rising outside of the major cities. 

As per reports, the experts believe the impact of a potential second wave of a new case in urban centres could further complicate attempts to reopen businesses and revive the hard-hit economy. While speaking to an international media outlet, Miguel Nicolelis, who is coordinating a coronavirus task force advising the state governments of Brazil’s northeast, said that the ‘boomerang’ of cases that will return to the capital of the country will be ‘tsunami’. 

(Image: AP)

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