Brazil

Starting April 24 France will order a strict 10-day quarantine for all travellers coming from Brazil in a bid to prevent the spread of a coronavirus variant first found in the South American county. Also, only people residing in France or holding a French or European Union passport will be allowed to fly to the country.

The same measures will also gradually be put in place by April 24 for people returning from Argentina, Chile and South Africa, where the presence of other coronavirus variants were detected, the prime minister's office said.

France suspended all flights from Brazil on Tuesday amid mounting fears over the particularly contagious Covid variant that has been sweeping the South American country.

"We note that the situation is getting worse and so we have decided to suspend all flights between Brazil and France until further notice," Castex said, drawing scattered applause from lawmakers.

Castex noted that travelers from Brazil already needed to test negative for the virus before their departure and upon arrival in France, and also quarantine for 10 days.

Brazil recorded 3,733 deaths from Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, totaling this April 7th 341,097 victims since the beginning of the pandemic. After the record of deaths registered the previous day, this is the third worst mark so far. As a result, the moving average of deaths in the country in the last 7 days was 2,744. Compared to the average of 14 days ago, the variation was + 21%, indicating an upward trend in deaths from the disease.

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, from the University of Washington, in the United States, projects one hundred thousand deaths from Covid-19 in Brazil in April alone. According to Ethel Maciel, an epidemiologist and professor at the Federal University of Espírito Santo (Ufes), if the current pace is maintained, Brazil may surpass the United States in absolute numbers of deaths in August. The moving average of deaths exceeded 3,000 for the second time and reached 3,013, according to data from the National Council of Health Secretaries (Conass).

The Brazilian Central Bank granted on March 30th operating authorizations that allow the carrying out of bank transfers by WhatsApp. According to the model authorized by the Central Bank, WhatsApp will only initiate transactions between customer accounts at the financial institutions in which they are account holders. Also, according to the BC, transactions can be made from the date when WhatsApp makes the functionality available to the customer and the rate charged for the bank transaction will be defined by the application. In a press release, the Central Bank estimated that the measure could lead to a reduction in the costs of financial transactions.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will replace the commanders of the country's army, navy and air force, the defense ministry said Tuesday. Some local media, including the Folha de Sao Paulo daily, reported that the military chiefs had quit in protest at the unexpected ministerial reshuffle. The president named Carlos Alberto Franco Franca as the new foreign minister after Araujo tendered his resignation earlier in the day.

According to a report of the consortium of Brazilian media companies consortium released on March 29 3,668 deaths by Covid-19, a new daily record. The country had, since the beginning of the pandemic 317,936 deaths.

The polemic Brazilian Foreign Policy Ministry Ernesto Araújo presented his resignation Monday to the President Jair Bolsonaro.

In the Brazilian Congress, the assessment is that the minister's performance isolated Brazil in the international scenario and hindered the obtaining of vaccine doses against Covid-19.

Mr. Araújo adopted in his administration the same principles as the foreign policy of former US President Donald Trump. This stance generated friction with important trading partners, such as China, the main destination for Brazilian exports, as well as the largest producer of vaccine supplies in the world.

In just 24 hours, 3,650 deaths linked to the disease were officially registered Friday, according to data from the National Council of Health Secretaries (Conass). The previous record had been registered last on March 23rd, with 3,251 lives lost in 24 hours.

With the new balance, the total number of victims of the disease in Brazil is 307,112. The mortality rate per group of 100,000 inhabitants rose to 146.1 in Brazil, the 18th highest in the world, when disregarding the dwarf countries San Marino, Liechtenstein and Andorra, according to a Johns Hopkins University survey.

The Argentinean government on Friday formalized the suspension of flights from Brazil, Chile and Mexico, due to the increasing cases of Covid-19 in those countries, and the circulation of new strains. The new measure starts on Saturday.

The government's objective is to reduce the number of trips during Easter Week, a time when many citizens tend to travel around the country or abroad, which in this case is the main concern.

The number of deaths in Brazil by Covid-19 passed 300,000 on Wednesday, according to reporting by the consortium of Brazilian media companies. The mark comes at the worst moment of the pandemic in the country, with more restrictive measures in several states and with the federal government facing harsh criticism for mismanagement of the health crisis.

Also on Tuesday, President Jair Bolsonaro made a televised statement to talk about his government's actions to combat the pandemic, but he lied by extolling all he did in an attempt to secure the purchase of vaccines. In the speech, Bolsonaro defended immunisation and said that "2021 will be the year of the vaccination of Brazilians", a very different tone from that adopted in other pronouncements, where he compared the virus to a "little flu".

By 3 votes to 2, the Second Panel of the Brazilian Supreme Court declared in a trial that former federal judge Sergio Moro acted with partiality in sentencing former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the case of the triplex of Guaruja.
The Supreme Court decision nullifies the triplex case, which will need to start over.

The Brazilian regulator for consumer protection, Procon-SP, has fined Apple the equivalent of two million US dollars. The reason is the company's practice of shipping the iPhone 12 and other new iPhones without an accompanying charger.

The penalty is justified by "misleading advertising and selling the device on unfair terms." Among other things, the regulator also criticizes Apple for not answering the question of whether they would also lower the selling price of the device given the lack of a charger.

The Brazilian government signed a contract with Pfizer for the purchase of 100 million doses of vaccine against Covid-19.

According to the schedule released by the Ministry of Health, the jabs are to be delivered between April and September.

President Jair Bolsonaro announced on Monday evening that Dr Marcelo Queiroga will be the new Minister of Health, replacing Eduardo Pazuello. The exchange takes place at the worst moment of the covid-19 pandemic in Brazil, with records of daily deaths and health systems in several collapsing states. Queiroga will be the fourth Minister of Health since the beginning of the pandemic a year ago.

Bolsonaro announced the new Minister during a conversation with supporters at the door of the Palácio da Alvorada.

Last year, Pazuello's predecessors, doctors Luiz Henrique Mandetta and Nelson Teich, left office because they disagreed with Bolsonaro's policy on treating the pandemic.

On Monday afternoon, Pazuello held a press conference to announce the purchase of 138 million doses of vaccine against covid-19 and confirmed that the president was in talks to replace him in the post.

The Civil Police closed a luxury casino in São Paulo in the early hours of Sunday and arrested 200 people. In addition to being illegal, the establishment disrespected the state decree that prohibits parties and agglomerations during the pandemic.

The Flamengo soccer player, Gabriel_Barbosa (Gabigol) was among the detained.

The Brazilian Ministry of Health signed on Friday a contract to receive 10 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine, developed by Russia's Gamaleya Institute.

According to a federal law sanctioned at the beginning of the pandemic last year, Anvisa has 72 hours to decide whether or not to validate the registration of a Covid-19 vaccine granted by one of the national health agencies of the United States, the European Union, Japan and China - Sputnik was approved in Russia and also in Argentina.

The goverment of the Brazilian state of São Paulo, announced that football matches and competitions are suspended from March 15th until, initially, March 30th. Clubs and the local football federation are considering to host their games in the neighbouring state of Rio de Janeiro.

With the growing increase in the number of new inpatients, the state has 87.6% occupation of intensive care beds dedicated to the disease, while in Greater São Paulo this rate is 86.7%.

Brazil has recorded 2,286 Covid-19 deaths in 24 hours, the National Council of Health Secretaries (Conass) said on Wednesday 10. This is the highest number of deaths recorded in one day since the beginning of the epidemic, and continues the rampant rise of the disease throughout the Brazilian territory.

With this, the country accumulates 270,656 victims of the Covid-19 and 11,202,305 cases.

A new study has calculated that Brazilian farmers produced food for about ten percent of the world's population last year. The state agricultural research agency Embrapa has examined, among other things, grain and oilseed production and comes to the conclusion that Brazilian products fed almost 780 million people - on the one hand directly, and on the other hand by feeding grain or soy to animals that then ended up on the plate. Brazil is the world's largest exporter of soy, sugar, coffee, orange juice and beef and chicken.