Brazil has surpassed Britain to become the third country with the highest number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the world, having 255,368 as of May 18.
Officials said the country is now only behind US and 1.5 million) and Russia (290,000).
In a report by Daily Mail, the country is currently in a political battle over how to combat the virus, with President Jair Bolsonaro downgrading the pandemic and urging the nation to reopen, while state and local authorities—backed by the Supreme Court—call on citizens to stay home and practice social distancing
The President has earlier fired his first Health Minister after arguing with him regarding stay-at-home measures, while the second one quit after he insisted on use of chloroquine to treat COVID-19—which is considered unproven and controversial.
Daily Mail added that Brazilian hospitals are nearing full capacity, while 40 indigenous groups in the Amazon have already been infected with the disease.
As of this writing, the country has already confirmed 16,853 fatalities.
