Parque Taruma cemetery during the coronavirus disease outbreak, in Manaus, Brazil.REUTERS/Bruno Kelly
- Brazil is predicted to surpass 125,000 COVID-19 deaths by August 4, according to new estimates from the University of Washington.
- By comparison, the US is expected to reach 131,967 deaths by August 4. Earlier this week, Brazil surpassed the US in the daily death toll from the virus.
- Brazil now has the second-highest number of coronavirus cases, surpassing Russia.
- Photos of mass graves capture the human toll of the coronavirus in Brazil.
Blue, turquoise, and white crosses mark the dead in mass graves in Manaus, Brazil, a visual reminder of the toll the novel coronavirus has had on the country.
Brazil now has the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases in the world, just behind the United States.
The University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, which also forecasts the potential US death toll and has been used by the White House, has estimated that if no changes are enacted 125,833 people in Brazil would die from the coronavirus by August 4.
As of Wednesday, the country had 25,598 reported deaths.
The same model is projecting that the US will reach 131,967 deaths by August 4. So far, more than 100,000 people have already died from the coronavirus in the US.
According to Reuters, the estimate was made as Brazil's daily death toll surpassed that of the US. The IHME also called for lockdowns in the country, but President Jair Bolsonaro has refused.
"Brazil must follow the lead of Wuhan, China, as well as Italy, Spain, and New York by enforcing mandates and measures to gain control of a fast-moving epidemic and reduce transmission of the coronavirus," IHME Director Christopher Murray wrote.
He added that until Brazil imposed lockdowns, it won't reach its peak of deaths until mid-July. The country will also face a shortage of critical hospital resources.
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