Brazil has topped 300,000 confirmed COVID-19 deaths, becoming the second country to do so amid a spike in infections that has seen the South American country report record death tolls in recent days.

On Wednesday, Brazil’s health ministry reported 2,009 daily COVID-19 deaths, bringing its pandemic total to 300,685. On Tuesday, the country saw a single-day record of 3,251 deaths.

The United States reached the grim milestone on December 14 but it has a larger population than Brazil.

According to local media reports in Brazil, the latest coronavirus figures might be affected by changes in the government’s counting system. Newly appointed Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga said in a news conference that he was going to check whether the numbers had been artificially reduced.

With daily death tolls at pandemic highs, state governors and mayors in Brazil have expressed fears that April could be as bad as March for the country’s overwhelmed hospitals.

Just in the past 75 days, Brazil has registered 100,000 confirmed coronavirus deaths, a spike health experts blame on a lack of political coordination in fighting the virus, new variants that spread more easily and a disregard for health protocols.

President Jair Bolsonaro has consistently downplayed the severity of the pandemic, insisting the economy must be kept humming to prevent worse hardship, and he has criticised health measures imposed by local leaders.

As the pandemic has worsened in recent weeks, Bolsonaro has shown signs of taking it more seriously. The return of his political nemesis, former left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, also appears to have stirred him into action. Lula’s corruption convictions have recently been annulled, allowing him to run in next year’s election.

On Tuesday, Bolsonaro, a far-right former army captain who has won international notoriety for his efforts to block lockdown measures, gave a televised address in which he defended his handling of the pandemic and pledged to deliver more vaccines.

Source:aljazeera.com