Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 28 (NNN-CMA) – Brazil, on Saturday, reported at least 1,109 daily deaths of COVID-19, raising its death toll to 57,070.

In the last 24 hours, 38,693 new cases were reported, bringing the national count to 1,313,667, the Brazilian Health Ministry said, in its daily report.

The state of Sao Paulo, the most populous in the country, has been the most heavily affected by the disease, with 14,263 deaths and 265,581 cases, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 9,789 deaths and 108,803 cases.

SAO PAULO, June 27 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian Ministry of Health announced on Saturday an agreement with the United Kingdom to acquire technology to locally produce a vaccine against COVID-19 that is currently being developed by the University of Oxford and British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

SAO PAULO, June 25 (BBB-AGENCIES) — Researchers in Brazil began administering an experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University to volunteers, the Federal University of Sao Paulo said.

The vaccine, developed together with pharmaceuticals group AstraZeneca, is one of the most promising of the dozens that researchers worldwide are racing to test and bring to market.

Known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, it is already being tested in volunteers in Britain, and is due to start being administered this week in South Africa, as well.

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazil reached more than a million confirmed coronavirus cases and 50,000 deaths over the weekend as throngs of people swarmed Rio de Janeiro beaches, but the World Health Organization said that even more cases were likely going uncounted.

On Sunday, swimmers and sunbathers packed Rio’s famous beaches, with many neither wearing masks nor respecting the WHO’s guidance to maintain one metre of distance between people.

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 22 (NNN-CMA) – Brazil’s death toll from COVID-19 climbed to 50,617, after 641 patients died in the previous 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.

Over the same period, tests detected 17,459 new cases of infection, raising the total to 1,085,038.

The rates of infection and mortality ranked Brazil as having the second-largest outbreak in the world, after the United States.

BRASILIA, June 20 (NNN-CMA) – Brazil’s Education Minister, Abraham Weintraub, announced that, he was leaving the post and heading to the World Bank as one of its directors.

He made the announcement in a video posted on Twitter, in which he appeared standing next to President Jair Bolsonaro.

“I am leaving the MEC (Ministry of Education) and I am beginning the transition now … to the provisional or definitive minister, who will replace me,” he said.

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s government confirmed on Friday that the country has risen above 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases, second only to the United States.

The country’s health ministry said that the total now stood at 1,032,913, up more than 50,000 from Thursday. The ministry said the sharp increase was due to corrections of previous days’ underreported numbers.

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian police on Thursday arrested a former aide to President Jair Bolsonaro’s eldest son in a graft investigation threatening to undermine his campaign promises to crack down on corruption.

Fabricio Queiroz, who worked with Senator Flavio Bolsonaro when he was a Rio de Janeiro state lawmaker, was arrested outside of Sao Paulo in a home owned by a personal lawyer for the Bolsonaro family, according to prosecutors.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — When Rafaela Matos saw police helicopters over her favela and heard gunshots, she fell to her knees and asked God to protect her son, João Pedro. Then she called the boy to make sure he was OK.

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 15 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian government extended on Monday the deployment of its national force in the Amazon jungle to combat environmental crimes and fires.

The national force, under the Ministry of Justice, will remain in the region until July 10 and possibly beyond, said a government gazette released Monday.

The force will work with the armed forces and other public security and environmental protection agencies to monitor the region and carry out "essential services to preserve public order," said the gazette.