SAO PAULO, Brazil 鈥斅燙ritics are accusing Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro of manipulating the figures showing the spiraling coronavirus death toll in Brazil, after his government first stopped reporting the total number of fatalities and infections, and then released conflicting data.
Artists perform during a protest in honor of people who died victim of the new coronavirus, COVID-19, and in defense of democracy, at the Cultural Complex of the Republic in Brasilia, June 8, 2020. Photo by Sergio LIMA / AFP
Even as infections soar in Brazil, the latest epicenter in the pandemic, the health ministry has made a series of unusual moves on how it presents the numbers on COVID-19.
The ministry had been the most widely used source for nationwide virus statistics, which paint a grim picture of its impact on Brazil: officially, 37,134 deaths, the third-highest toll in the world, after the United States and Britain; and 707,412 infections, the second-highest caseload, after the US.
Last week, the ministry postponed its daily tally of infections and deaths by around two and a half hours, to just before 10:00 pm.
Critics accused the government of doing that to dodge negative coverage on 鈥淛ornal Nacional,鈥� a popular evening news program on Globo TV, Brazil鈥檚 biggest broadcaster.
Bolsonaro himself appeared to confirm as much when asked about the delay.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the end of that story for 鈥楯ornal Nacional,'鈥� the far-right president said.
Then the ministry stopped publishing the total number of deaths and infections, releasing only the figures for the past 24 hours for the country of 212 million people.
鈥楽tatistical coup d鈥檈tat鈥�
Things only got more muddled on Sunday, when the ministry released two different daily tolls, without initially explaining why or indicating which was correct.
It explained Monday that the previous day鈥檚 figures had been corrected because some data supplied by state health officials included duplicates.
It also said it had adopted a new methodology, with a new website, where victims will be counted under the day they died, rather than the day that posthumous testing confirmed a COVID-19 diagnosis.
鈥淭here are cases where lab results are for deaths that occurred weeks ago,鈥� it said in a statement.
鈥淭he curve by date of death鈥� helps understand the dynamic of the disease and how the authorities need to concentrate their efforts.鈥�
It also moved the daily update back up to 6:00 pm.
But critics have been brutal.
鈥淭his is a statistical coup d鈥檈tat,鈥� said newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo, one of Brazil鈥檚 most-read, in a scathing editorial.
鈥淢anipulating the number of dead in a pandemic is a crime,鈥� said influential columnist Miriam Leitao in newspaper Globo.
Top media groups, including Folha and Globo, announced they were teaming up to release their own daily figures based on data collected directly from state health officials.
Already, their toll diverges from the official one, with 178 more deaths and 3,475 more infections.
Congress said it, too, would set up an independent count.
鈥楾otalitarian regime鈥�
Brazil鈥檚 health ministry is currently run by an interim minister, whose two predecessors were ousted mid-pandemic after disagreements with Bolsonaro.
The president has famously compared the new coronavirus to a 鈥渓ittle flu鈥� and railed against stay-at-home measures to contain it, citing their economic toll.
Former health minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta, who was fired by Bolsonaro in April, said the handling of the data shows 鈥渢he government is more harmful than the virus.鈥�
Criticism over the data confusion only increased when well-known businessman Carlos Wizard, who had been tapped to serve as a top adviser in the health ministry, said Friday that the government鈥檚 official figures to date were 鈥渇antastical and manipulated.鈥�
That outraged state health officials who provide the underlying data. They accused the government of trying to make coronavirus victims 鈥渋nvisible.鈥�
Wizard later apologized to victims鈥� families over the remark, and withdrew his candidacy for the health ministry post after online protesters threatened to boycott his companies.
The government has become the butt of jokes for its approach to the numbers.
When it began putting the number of recovered patients in larger font than the number of dead on its website, one social media user snickered it was like describing Brazil鈥檚 humiliating 7-1 loss to Germany in the 2014 World Cup by saying, 鈥淏razil scored one goal, with 52 percent ball possession and eight shots on goal.鈥�
Others are less amused.
鈥淢anipulating statistics is a move used by totalitarian regimes,鈥� Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes wrote on Twitter.