Brazil restores COVID-19 data after court ruling

Brazil restores COVID-19 data after court ruling

On Tuesday Brazil brought detailed COVID-19 data back to its national website after a Brazilian Supreme Court justice ruled the full set of information, removed over the weekend, be reinstated.

Gloria Tso reports.

On Tuesday (June 9) Brazil brought detailed COVID-19 data back to its national website -- after removing it over the weekend.

A Brazilian Supreme Court justice ruled that the full set of information be reinstated, after days of mounting pressure from across the political spectrum.

Critics alleged the government was hiding the severity of the coronavirus outbreak.

The country now has the second most cases in the world.

And on Monday (June 8) the World Health Organization called on the Brazilian government to be transparent with its citizens.

"They need to understand what's happening, they need to understand where the virus is, they need to know how to manage the risks to them." Brazil's health ministry first delayed the release of its coronavirus case count last week before abruptly removing cumulative totals of all cases and deaths from its website.

The Supreme Court's statement said the action made it quote "impossible" to monitor the spread of the virus and implement appropriate prevention policies.

Right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro has come under fire for playing down the severity of the pandemic.

But on Tuesday Bolsonaro threw blame on the WHO instead, threatening to leave the international body.

"There is a reason why the American President Donald Trump has left the WHO, why he stopped contributing to the WHO.

Brazil will think about this as soon as this problem with the pandemic is over, to seriously think about whether or not to leave, because it no longer inspires confidence for us." But despite the ongoing surge in coronavirus cases, Brazilians returned to the beaches of Rio de Janeiro on Monday.

The country's most populous state, Sao Paulo, is also seeking to reopen its economy.

Brazil reported over 32,000 new infections on Tuesday, bringing the total to nearly 750,000.