Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro minimized this Wednesday, January 12 the dizzying increase in Covid-19 cases with the arrival of the Omicron variant which, according to experts, could soon again overload hospitals.
Asked by the local press after the announcement of the first death of the Omicron variant in the country, the Head of State assured that this person “already had very serious problems, especially in the lungs”. Jair Bolsonaro subsequently assured that Omicron had “killed no one”.
“Some even say it would be a vaccine virus. Some learned and serious people, not related to the pharmaceutical industry, say that Omicron is welcome and that it can be the sign of the end of the pandemic, ”insisted the president of the extreme right thereafter.
An outbreak of cases in Brazil
According to the latest official report from the Ministry of Health, published Tuesday evening, Brazil recorded 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, unheard of since the end of July.
In the state of Rio de Janeiro, for example, the number of daily cases has increased by 1,500% in two weeks.
Since the start of the pandemic, the Brazilian president has continued to question the recommendations of experts to fight against Covid-19, rejecting in particular confinement, wearing a mask and vaccination.