COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil | |
---|---|
![]() Cases per 100,000 residents by state | |
![]() Map of states with confirmed coronavirus cases (as of 2 June) | |
Disease | COVID-19 |
Virus strain | SARS-CoV-2 |
Location | Brazil |
First outbreak | São Paulo, Brazil |
Index case | São Paulo |
Arrival date | 26 February 2020 (4 years, 2 months, 3 weeks and 3 days) |
Confirmed cases | 867,624[1] |
Recovered | 388,492[1] |
Deaths | 43,332[1] |
Government website | |
coronavirus |
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Brazil on 25 February 2020,[2] when a man from São Paulo tested positive for the virus.
As of 13 May 2020, 188,974 cases have been confirmed in the country, causing 13,149 deaths.[1][3]
On 12 January, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a new coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.[4][5]
On 17 March, Brazil's first coronavirus-related death was confirmed.[6] At this time, there were 291 confirmed cases in the country.[7] Three days later, State health departments reported almost a thousand confirmed cases across 23 of 26 states and also in the Federal District.[8]
A month after the first confirmed case on February 26, the Ministry of Health reported that Brazil had 2,915 confirmed cases and 77 deaths.[9] On 30 April, Brazil overtook China in number of confirmed cases, passing 87,000.[10]
The pandemic has caused a large difference of responses from federal, state and local governments. On 27 March Brazil announced a temporary ban on foreign air travelers,[11] and most state governors have added quarantines to prevent the spread of the virus.[12]
Despite the global impact of the virus and guidelines from the World Health Organization, President Jair Bolsonaro says that the risk caused by coronavirus has been exaggerated.[13] State governors have disagreed, causing lockdowns measures in their own states.[14]
On 13 March, President Jair Bolsonaro tested negative for COVID-19.[15][16] The same day, the Ministry of Health issued a warning recommending Brazilians and foreigners arriving in Brazil to stay in isolation for at least 7 days.[17]