Brazil reports 217 COVID deaths in 24 hours, lowest average death toll since April 2020 – ministry

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A health worker treats a patient with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Ronaldo Gazolla Hospital, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on June 18, 2021. REUTERS / Pilar Olivares

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BRASILIA, Nov.20 (Reuters) – Brazil has recorded 8,833 new cases of the novel coronavirus reported in the past 24 hours and 217 deaths from COVID-19, the health ministry said on Saturday, as vaccination reduces the contagion and deaths at levels not seen since the first weeks of the pandemic last year.

The ministry said 70% of the eligible population has been fully vaccinated and 90% received a first dose. On Saturday, the ministry launched a campaign to reach 21 million Brazilians who have not returned for a second chance.

The South American country has now recorded 22,012,150 cases since the start of the pandemic, while the official death toll has risen to 612,587, according to official data, in the world’s third worst outbreak outside the states United and India and its second deadliest after the United States.

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With the progression of vaccination, the 14-day moving average of COVID deaths fell to 228 per day, the lowest since April 26, 2020, a month and a half after the first death from the pandemic in Brazil. That compares to a toll of nearly 3,000 deaths per day in Brazil at the height of the pandemic in April this year.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s second-largest city, which has been hit hard by the epidemic, recorded no new cases of people with COVID-19 hospitalized in municipal hospitals on Saturday, the city’s health authority said. . He added that 76.5% of the eligible population has been fully vaccinated.

“Science wins in the city of Rio de Janeiro,” he said on Twitter.

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Reporting by Anthony Boadle in Brasilia and Luana Maria Benedito in Sao Paulo Editing by Matthew Lewis

Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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