Coronavirus digest: Brazil's Bolsonaro tells people 'stop whining'

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday that people needed to "stop whining" about COVID-19 in his latest outburst against the protective measures to contain the crisis. 

The far-right leader's comments come as Brazil goes through its deadliest week of the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 1,300 deaths per day. 

"Stop whining. How long are you going to keep crying about it?" Bolsonaro said as he called for easing restrictions. "We regret the deaths ... But where's Brazil going to end up if we just close everything? 

Read More

How a coronavirus variant is overrunning Brazil

The numbers are alarming. On Tuesday, a new daily record was broken when 1,726 people died of COVID-19 in Brazil. The average death rate over the past week was 1,274. That's almost 25% higher than two weeks ago.

"We are currently experiencing the worst moment of the pandemic, with daily death tolls breaking new records and overburdened intensive care units all over the country," microbiologist Natalia Pasternak told DW.

Over 257,000 Brazilians have died of COVID-19 already. But the spread of the virus has picked up dramatically. On Tuesday, almost 60,000 new cases were registered. 

Read More