The Ministry of Health released a report this Tuesday that said the number of deaths related to COVID-19 in Brazil was 5,017. Authorities reported 474 deaths, an increase in the total toll by 10.4%. Brazil recorded more deaths in the last 24 hours than Italy, France, and Spain.

China reported 4,643 thus far, but Hong Kong researchers estimated that this number was at least four times greater than was being reported in local media.

Mortality and Miracles

During an interview with Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, one of the reporters was asking for the president's input on how the death count in Brazil exceeded the reported toll in China.

"'E daí?" he replied. This meant, 'and so?' He added, "I'm sorry. What do you want me to do [about it]?"

In the same interview, Bolsonaro said he sympathized with the families of the dead, who were mostly the elderly.

"Mas é a vida," he said, which roughly translates to "that is life." His attitude towards the impact of the pandemic on the nation was noncommittal.

He said that the virus was estimated by health experts to infect 70% of the country's population. He added, "Unfortunately, that is the reality. ...Nobody ever denied that there would be deaths."

The far-right president is known for downplaying the pandemic. Bolsonaro even attended an anti-lockdown protest with a crowd of a hundred supporters earlier this month.

He called them "patriots," who also demanded Congress and the Supreme Court to be shut down, preferring the military take their place in handling the crisis caused by the pandemic.

Currently, estimates of the fatality rate in Brazil are at 6.9%, according to data by John Hopkins University.

"I am Messiah," Bolsonaro told the journalists, referring to his name, Messias. "But I can't do miracles."

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Pandemic a "Trick" by Media

Bolsonaro was every bit convinced that the pandemic was just a product of media "hysteria," and that this was a ploy against his administration. He accused opposing political parties and the press of tracking Brazilians about the coronavirus when he asserted that they should be concerned about the economic consequences of the pandemic.

On TV program Domingo Espetacular, Bolsonaro justified the federal government against criticisms about downplaying the pandemic, which he believed no reason to panic over.

In the same show, he called out governors from states like Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo for costing the economy millions of jobs through imposing quarantines and home isolation. Bolsonaro said these were exaggerated measures to a seemingly harmless virus.

The previous month, at the height of the pandemic, Bolsonaro encouraged people to keep working. States have implemented their measures to combat the coronavirus, even against direct orders from the federal government.

The president warned that the time would come for Brazilians to finally see that they were "tricked" by their governors and the media. He claimed that the COVID-19 pandemic was little more than a shameless, humongous, and absurd campaign against him.

Bolsonaro claimed, "They want to force me out however possible."

While Brazilians are obeying quarantine orders, some residents have taken to pot banging in their own homes to protest Bolsonaro's administration.