Brazil Hits Record for Highest Daily Number of New COVID Cases
Brazil reported nearly 35,000 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday the same day a top government official declared the outbreak there was under control. The 34,918 total for Tuesday is the highest daily number reported so far in the South American country. Brazil, the world’s No. 2 coronavirus hotspot after the United States, is fast approaching 1 million cases. Experts say the true number is likely higher due to patchy testing. Brazil also registered 1,282 COVID-19 deaths since its last update on Monday, the Health Ministry said, bringing confirmed fatalities in the country to 45,241. Brazil trails only the United States for the most cases overall. As of Tuesday, more than 2 millions Americans have been infected by the virus, and more than 116, 125 have died, according to Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, wearing a face mask amid the new coronavirus pandemic, stands amid supporters taking pictures with cell phones as he leaves his official residence of Alvorada palace in Brasilia, May 25, 2020.Doctors at Britain’s Imperial College London say they will start testing a coronavirus vaccine this week. Three hundred healthy people will be given shots. The vaccine uses synthetic parts of a genetic code based on the coronavirus. The body’s own cells will then make copies of a protein that scientists hope will trigger an immune response. French President Emmanuel Macron Tuesday toured a Sanofi laboratory – the company that caused an uproar in France last month after it said it would put the United States first in line for its COVID-19 vaccine because of the money the U.S. invested in vaccine research. Sanofi later backed down from that statement and promised to make the vaccine available to everyone when it’s ready. Macron announced the government would invest 200 million euros, or more than $225 million, to help French laboratories develop a vaccine so France is less dependent on foreign companies for vaccines and other medicines. Macron said coronavirus vaccines should be thought of as a “common good” for humanity and not dependent on who can pay. Meanwhile, France is about to reopen the one symbol that says “This is Paris” above all others – the Eiffel Tower. Tickets to the tower go on sale Thursday and officials expect to reopen to tourists next week. The tower has been closed to visitors since March, but the top of the tower will still be off-limits for now. The elevators will remain out of service and visitors will be allowed to climb the stairs only as high as the second floor. The director of the tower says he hopes the entire structure can be reopened by August.
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