Coronavirus: Hard-hit Brazil removes data amid rising death toll
The far-right leader has been criticised for rejecting lockdown measures recommended by the World Health Organization and, on Friday, threatened to pull out of the body, accusing it of being a"partisan political organisation".
The president has repeatedly joined supporters in protests in recent months, ignoring social-distancing advice.On Saturday, the health ministry removed from its official website the Covid-19 data it had been documenting over time and by state and municipality. Instead, the ministry only stated that there were 27,075 new cases and 904 deaths in the past 24 hours. It also said that 10,209 patients had recovered.The BBC's Katy Watson looks at how Bolsonaro has responded to the virus
On Twitter, Mr Bolsonaro said"the cumulative data... does not reflect the moment the country is in" but did not explain why the information had to be removed or could not be released. He said additional measures were being taken to"improve the reporting of cases". The decision has been widely criticised by journalists and members of Congress. The removal of the data happened after Brazil reported more than 1,000 deaths for four consecutive days.
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