BRAZIL OVERTAKES RUSSIA AS SECOND WORST HIT COUNTRY IN WORLD AFTER US.

The deadly corona virus has infected over 5.5 million people worldwide. Brazil has overtaken Russia as the country with the second-highest number of coronavirus infections behind the United States. The surge came as the World Health Organization declared South America “a new epicenter” of the pandemic.

Brazil has overtaken Russia as the country with the second-highest number of coronavirus infections worldwide behind the United States, as the Americas emerged as a new epicenter of the pandemic. 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 may be 15 times higher or more.

The number of deaths in Brazil rose by 1,001 in 24 hours, the third time in four days it has come in over 1,000. The surge came as the World Health Organization declared South America “a new epicenter” of the pandemic.

The United States has registered more than 1.6 million cases and nearly 96,000 deaths. On the other hand, Russia has registered 326,488 cases and 3,200 deaths. The number of deaths in Brazil is currently the sixth-highest in the world, behind the United States, Britain, Italy, Spain and France. But the crisis is not expected to peak in Brazil until June.

The country of 210 million people has had a disjointed response to the pandemic. Far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who has famously compared the virus to a “little flu,” condemns the stay-at-home measures imposed by state and local authorities, saying they are needlessly harming the economy.