Brazilian govt on publication of full virus data

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's government said Tuesday that it had paused releasing COVID-19 figures as it was "afraid of underreporting" the statistics. Speaking in Brasilia at a cabinet meeting, the country's health minister responded to allegations his government was trying to hide the severity of the pandemic in Latin America's biggest country.

It came as a Brazilian Supreme Court justice ordered the government to resume publication of full COVID-19 data, including the cumulative death toll.

Brazil’s health ministry stopped publishing the number of total COVID-19 deaths and confirmed coronavirus cases on Friday.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the government is obliged to provide necessary information to Brazilian citizens.

"We are looking for the real number to avoid the under-reporting we never talked about over-reporting. We were afraid of the under-reporting," said Eduardo Pazuello, Interim Health Minister speaking at the cabinet meeting.

Pazuello also echoed Trump's criticisms and skepticism of the WHO, referencing accusations of lack of transparency, and called for the body to be investigated.

President Jair Bolsonaro, who was also at the cabinet meeting, reiterated his view that the country needed normality as soon as possible, and said the media was creating panic surrounding the coronavirus, which has killed more than 37,000 Brazilians.