By Tony Winterburn • Published: 23 May 2020 • 11:37
THE South American country has now registered 330,890 infections and 21,048 deaths from the new coronavirus, though experts say under-testing means the real figures maybe 15 times higher or more. Brazil’s death toll rose by 1,001 in 24 hours, the third time in four days it has come in over 1,000.
The death toll has doubled in just 11 days, according to the ministry’s data. “The majority of the cases are from the Sao Paulo region,” Ryan said.
“But in terms of attack rates, the highest attack rates are actually in Amazonas: about 490 persons infected per 100,000 population, which is quite high,” he said of Brazil’s vast northwestern state.
The surge came as the World Health Organisation declared South America “a new epicentre” of the pandemic. “Clearly there is a concern across many of those countries, but clearly the most affected is Brazil at this point,” said WHO emergencies director Mike Ryan.
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