A health worker stands on a boat carrying COVID-19 patient Jose da Conceição as he waits for an ambulance to transfer him to a hospital after arriving in the port of Manacapuru,Amazonas state,Brazil.Credit:AP
In an editorial running the length of newspaperFolha de S.Paulo's front page,the Brazilian daily highlighted that just 100 days had passed since Bolsonaro described the virus now"killing a Brazilian per minute"as"a little flu."
"While you were reading this,another Brazilian died from the coronavirus,"the newspaper said.
Brazil's Health Ministry reported late on Thursday that confirmed cases in the country had climbed past 600,000 and 1437 deaths had been registered within 24 hours,the third consecutive daily record. The nation reported another 1005 deaths Friday night.
With more than 35,000 lives lost,the pandemic has killed more people in Brazil than anywhere outside of the United States and the United Kingdom.
President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro during a conference with the press and supporters at Alvorada Palace.Credit:Getty
Asked about efforts to loosen social distancing orders in Brazil despite rising daily death rates and diagnoses,World Health Organisation (WHO) spokeswoman Margaret Harris said a key criteria for lifting lockdowns was slowing transmission.
"The epidemic,the outbreak,in Latin America is deeply,deeply concerning,"she told a news conference in Geneva. Among six key criteria for easing quarantines,she said,"one of them is ideally having your transmission declining."