Brazil reports 15,654 new coronavirus cases and 679 more deaths in 24 hours

As many as 15,654 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus were recorded on June 8 in Brazil, surging the total cases to 710,887. At least 679 new Covid-19 fatalities were registered within the past 24 hours bringing the death toll to 37, 312, according to the health ministry’s data of brazil.  

The surge in cases strikes following Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro tweet on Brazil’s decision not to list the total casualties from the pandemic. Bolsonaro wrote on Twitter, “Cumulative data, in addition to not showing that the large part [of patients] no longer has the illness, does not depict the moment of the country. Other actions are in the works to improve case notifications and diagnostic confirmations.” Hence, as of June 8, the official Covid-19 tracker from the Brazilian Health Ministry listed 24 hours data on new cases and deaths only, removing the previous record.  

With cases drastically rising in Brazil, and non-transparency on the data by the government, hundreds of residents in Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro State, reportedly waited in a long line outside test kiosks in different parts of the city to get tested for the coronavirus. Government, had earlier, organized expansive testing organized aimed mainly for the health workers, security and frontline workers, elderly people, and those with COVID-19 and flu-like symptoms, city's Health Secretary said at the press conference.  

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Read: Brazil's Poorest Die At Home As Pandemic Grows

WHO 'partisan political organization'

With less than one-third of Brazilians approving Bolsonaro’s response of the pandemic, analysts reportedly believed that Brazil's government made efforts to shields the failure of the handling of the pandemic to depict governability. Earlier, Brazil's largest city, Sao Paulo began which has the highest number of coronavirus cases eased the lockdown. Further, as the country surpassed Italy in toll, President Jair Bolsonaro threatened to pull out of the World Health Organization WHO, calling it a “partisan political organization,” reports confirmed.  

In an editorial boldly carried by a leading Brazilian daily, a piece read “just 100 days had passed since Bolsonaro described the virus that is killing a Brazilian per minute as a ‘little flu.’ “While you were reading this, another Brazilian died from the coronavirus,” the newspaper quoted Jair Bolsonaro that caused a stir countrywide, according to local reports.  

Read: Brazil To End The Year With Debt Equal To 94% Of Country's GDP

Read: Anti-racism Protest Ends In Violence In Southern Brazil City

(Image credit: AP)