Over a million coronas infected in Brazil

On Friday, the number of new infected persons was 54,771, the highest figure so far, when the gloomy milestone was passed.

"The number one million is much smaller than the actual number of people who have been infected, because there is an under-reporting that is five to ten times greater," says Alexandre Naime Barbosa, professor of medicine at São Paulo State University and continues:

-The real number is probably at least three million and can even be as high as ten million.

In terms of official figures, Brazil is the world's second worst hit country after the US, in terms of the total number of infected and dead.

The pandemic reached Brazil via citizens who returned to major cities such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo from their tourist trips in Europe. Since then, the virus has spread throughout the country, and is now found in 82 percent of the country's municipalities, according to information from the Ministry of Health.

The spread has diminished support for the country's president, Jair Bolsonaro, who is widely criticized for his way of dealing with the crisis, and has led to fears of an economic collapse. Bolsonaro has dismissed the corona virus, and has been opposed to restrictions and shutdowns that he believes threaten the economy and jobs.

"The amount of financial problems this will cause will be huge, to the point where Brazil is left exhausted," Bolsonaro said on Wednesday.

Now, governors and mayors around the country have begun to ease restrictions, despite warnings from public health experts.

"We believe there will be a new wave after the relief of these measures," says physician Ricardo Langer, who treats patients at a field hospital that has been set up at the Maracanã football stadium in Rio de Janeiro.