This archive report was first published on 25 June 2020.
June 25, 2020 - Brazil's COVID-19 crisis deepens as the country records a significant jump in new coronavirus cases, with 42,725 cases in the past 24 hours, and 1,185 deaths, bringing the total death toll to 53,830.
Experts warn that Brazil is exiting lockdown too soon, citing under-testing in the country of 212 million people, which means the real numbers are probably much higher.
The health ministry has announced plans to start testing 100 percent of even mild suspected cases in the public health system, but many states in Brazil are pressing ahead with plans to reopen their economies after months of painful stay-at-home measures to contain the virus.
Despite the ongoing surge in infections and deaths, cities such as Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the hardest-hit in Brazil, have begun gradually lifting emergency measures, even though the number of infections and deaths is still rising sharply.
Shoppers have swarmed commercial districts in Sao Paulo in recent days, while Rio's famous beaches were packed last weekend, raising concerns about waning adherence to social distancing guidelines.
President Jair Bolsonaro has clashed with state and local authorities over their stay-at-home measures, arguing the economic impact of such measures risks being worse than the virus itself.
“We're sending people to the slaughterhouse,” said Domingos Alves, a professor of medicine at the University of Sao Paulo and member of a scientific committee monitoring the crisis, COVID-19 Brasil.
“The curve in Brazil is still rising sharply. We're still in the first wave.”
