Official death toll in Brazil approaches 500,000

Brazil looks set to become the second country to pass the devastating milestone of 500,000 deaths linked to COVID-19 with a relentless wave of infections showing no sign of slowing. The Brazilian Health Ministry reported 98,832 new virus cases and 2,495 deaths for the past 24 hours on Friday. The South American country has now registered more than 17.8 million cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 498,499. Brazil's Senate is publicly investigating how the toll got so high, focusing on why President JairBolsonaro's far-right government ignored opportunities to buy vaccines for months while it relentlessly pushed hydroxychloroquine, the malaria drug that rigorous studies have shown to be ineffective in treating COVID-19.