Brazil has surpassed 2,000 pandemic-related deaths in one day as COVID-19 infection rates climb, according to reports by BBC and Agence France-Presse Thursday.
Brazil now has the second highest death toll in the world, next to the U.S., with 268,370 fatalities. Health authorities warn the virus' transmission rate is made worse by more contagious mutations.
The South American country with a population of 212 million is struggling to deal with a constant flow of COVID-19 infections that has pushed many medical facilities to near collapse.
According to the state-run Fiocruz institute, more than 80% of intensive care unit beds are full in 25 of Brazil's 27 state capitals.
Around 93% of ICU beds in Rio de Janeiro are occupied and Brasília only has 3% available. The cities of Campo Grande and Porto Alegre have exceeded capacity, Axios reported.
While a new COVID-19 variant spreads throughout Brazil, many of its people continue to refuse to wear face masks following the example set by President Jair Bolsonaro, who recently said people must stop being "sissies" and "whining" about the crisis.
Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva lashed out at Bolsonaro's "stupid" decisions.
Margareth Dalcolmo, a physician and researcher at Fiocruz, said Brazil was at its "worst moment of the pandemic." "2021 is still going to be a very hard year," she said in remarks quoted by Agence France-Presse.
"The best we can do is hope for the miracle of mass vaccination or a radical change in the management of the pandemic," Fiocruz epidemiologist Jesem Orellana told Agence France-Presse.
