COVID-19: Brazil’s confirmed cases surpass Germany, as China confirms 7 new infections

The total number of COVID-19 infections in Brazil surpassed the number recorded in Germany on Tuesday as the country recorded 881 deaths in 24 hours – the highest since the outbreak began.

According to reports, Brazil has confirmed 177,589 cases of coronavirus, compared with 170,508 in Germany with more than 4.26 million people around the world confirmed to be infected with the virus, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University

Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, has sought to downplay the disease and is now battling with state governors over a presidential decree he signed on Monday designating beauty salons and gyms as “essential” services that would allow them to open during lockdowns.

At least 10 governors have said they will not comply with Bolsonaro’s decree.

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“Bolsonaro is walking towards the precipice and wants to take all of us with him,” Rio de Janeiro Governor Wilson Witzel wrote on Twitter.

Meanwhile, China’s National Health Commission has confirmed seven new cases of COVID-19, six of them in the northeastern province of Jilin where the city of Shulan increased its risk level from medium to high at the weekend.

The new cases were found in Jilin, the province’s second-biggest city, with five of them linked to an earlier case in Shulan. The city of Jilin has temporarily suspended train services as a result of the outbreak.

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