Brasilia (AFP)

Brazil exceeded the threshold of 180,000 dead from Covid-19 on Friday, suffering the full brunt of the 2nd wave, even if President Jair Bolsonaro spoke of the "very end" of the pandemic.

The latest report from the Department of Health shows 672 deaths in 24 hours, for a total of 180,437, in the second most bereaved country behind the United States.

The number of contaminations also remains very high, with 54,428 new cases, 6,836,227 since the start of the pandemic.

Specialists fear that the rate of contamination will accelerate further with family and friendly reunions at the end of the year, in this country of 212 million inhabitants which is about to enter the southern summer with beaches already crowded on weekends.

"The situation is likely to worsen with the summer, because people will move around more, without any control, most of the restriction measures having already been lifted", explains to AFP Christovam Barcellos, researcher at the institute of Fiocruz reference.

Since the start of the pandemic, Jair Bolsonaro has continued to downplay the virus and criticize the restrictions imposed by mayors and state governors in the name of preserving jobs.

And yet, these restrictions were for the most part much less severe than in Europe, very few cities having imposed a real containment or a curfew, limiting themselves most of the time to closing certain businesses.

On Thursday, the far-right president ignored the second wave, saying that Brazil was "at the very end of the pandemic".

"The president is wrong, I do not know where he got this idea from. The figures show the opposite", retorts Christovam Barcellos.

- New restrictions -

After an interminable plateau of more than 1,000 deaths from June to August, the curves began to widen, with less than 400 daily deaths on average in mid-November, before starting to rise again in recent weeks.

"People are leaving their homes to do Christmas shopping and are already starting to go out to restaurants, including end-of-year corporate meals," said José David Urbaez, of the Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases.

Some states have started to impose new restrictions.

Bars in the state of Sao Paulo, the most populous and the most affected by the virus, will have to close earlier, at 8 p.m.

In Mato Grosso du Sud (center-west), the authorities have declared a curfew for two weeks from Monday.

In Rio de Janeiro, the city hall has decided to allow shopping centers to open 24 hours a day to prevent crowds from concentrating there for Christmas shopping, but few have shown willingness to change their schedules, being unable to cover staff costs, especially for security.

The only notable new restriction in Rio is a ban on parking near beaches on weekends and holidays.

- "Demobilization" -

In seven of the 27 Brazilian state capitals, the occupancy of intensive care beds is over 90%.

Figures "very worrying", caused according to Christovam Barcellos by a "demobilization of health services" after the peak of the first wave.

"A large number of health professionals have been made redundant, field hospitals have been dismantled," he continues.

For José David Urbáez, the prospect of a vaccine in the coming months should not be synonymous with relaxing restrictions.

"We can't say that we are quiet because the vaccine is here soon, it would be better to say: 'Stay home, the vaccine is coming'".

The national plan for mass immunization of Brazilians has been strongly criticized by specialists and by the governors of several states.

Brazil has world-renowned immunization expertise, but is plagued by political rivalries.

President Bolsonaro has tried on several occasions to discredit the Sinovac laboratory's "Chinese vaccine", which will be manufactured by a public institute under the supervision of the State of Sao Paulo, ruled by Joao Doria, one of his potential rivals for the presidential election of 2022.

© 2020 AFP