The patient from the state of Goiás (center-west), a 68-year-old man, who died on January 6, is the first officially confirmed death in Brazil by omicron, according to the authorities of the Aparecida de Goiânia municipality.
Experts assure that this variant is already the majority in the country.
“Ómicron, which has already spread throughout the world, has a very high contagion capacity, but its lethality is very small, according to people in the know”added the president.
“Some even say that it would be a virus that would serve as a vaccine. According to some studious and serious people, and unrelated to pharmaceuticals, omicron is welcome and may signal the end of the pandemic,” he insisted.
According to the latest official report from the Ministry of Health, published on Tuesday night, Brazil registered 70,765 new cases of covid-19 in 24 hours, eight times more than two weeks ago (8,430).
The moving average of the last seven days is 43,660 daily contaminations, an unprecedented figure since the end of last July. In the state of Rio de Janeiro (southeast), for example, the number of daily cases increased 1,500% in two weeks.
Despite the skyrocketing rise, Bolsonaro continues to fiercely oppose any restrictive measures. “Our economy would not withstand a new confinement. Brazil would go bankrupt”, he pointed.
The president once again defended the controversial thesis of “herd immunity” that would confer mass contamination. “Herd immunity is a reality (…) I, for example, have not been vaccinated and I am very well,” he said.
For Bolsonaro, covid-19 is a “politicized disease”: “I am perhaps the only head of state in the world who had the courage to give his opinion.”
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Brazilian president has not stopped criticizing the recommendations of experts to fight covid-19, rejecting in particular confinement, the use of a mask and vaccination.
A Senate commission of inquiry in October recommended his indictment for several crimes, including “crimes against humanity”, for having “deliberately exposed Brazilians to massive contamination.”
With more than 620,000 deaths, Brazil is the second country with the most fatalities after the United States.
Source From: Ambito
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