Coronavirus rocks  Brazil “little flu” president

Brazil,  whose president originally downplayed the effects of the coronavirus pandemic is now the Latin American country with most cases  and with over  1,000 deaths from COVID-19, this Friday said the country’s Ministry of Health.

The figures from the ministry show   19,638 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 1,056 deaths.

The number of deaths from the coronavirus is relatively low when compared to the countries most affected by the pandemic such as Italy (more than 18,000 deaths), the United States (about 17,000) and Spain (about 16,000).

But Brazilian health authorities are preparing for an increase in victims of COVID-19, which has left more than 150,000 deaths worldwide.

Experts predict that the peak of contagion in the country will be reached in late April.

The expansion of the coronavirus is of particular concern for its possible impact in the poorest areas of the country, such as the favelas of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, which lack health and sanitation infrastructure.

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President Jair Bolsonaro faces a barrage of criticism for initially downplaying the importance of the COVID-19, which he compared  to “a little flu.”

The far-right president has confronted local and state authorities over their decision to close businesses and schools and ask residents to stay home, which, according to him, will destroy the economy.

In his last act of defiance of his government’s own recommendations, he took to the streets of Brasilia this Friday to greet some of his followers and posted videos on social networks.