Brazil exceeds 4,000 daily COVID-19 deaths, India sees record infections
Seen through a rain-drenched window, healthcare workers of the public Mobile Emergency Service rush to their ambulance to transport a patient in Brasilia, Brazil, March 31, 2021.
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For the first time on Tuesday, Brazil became the third nation to report a daily COVID-19 death rate exceeding 4,000. Only Peru and the US have had daily death tolls higher than 4,000. The coronavirus crisis in Brazil, exacerbated by the country’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, who has opposed lockdown measures to prevent the spread of the virus, has led to a pandemic toll quickly approaching 340,000 — the second highest in the world behind the US.
And India on Wednesday has again reported a record number of new COVID-19 infections in a country where cases have been surging since March. Health officials reported a record of 115,736 cases topping another record the Asian country set only on Monday. Over half of the daily new cases are being reported in the western state of Maharashtra, home to India’s most populous urban area of Mumbai.
While countries like Brazil and India are struggling to keep up with the surges in cases, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced plans to open a quarantine-free travel bubble with neighboring Australia after both countries have shown success in stopping the spread of the coronavirus.
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