Brazil declares state of emergency to fight coronavirus

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - Brazil declared a state of emergency on Friday, allowing the government to free up budgetary resources to combat the virus that has killed six people and infected 621 in the country so far.

As criticism of his management of COVID-19 intensified, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro asked Congress to approve the government decree that declares public calamity in order to be able to spend beyond the limit of the Fiscal Responsibility Law and face the emergency situation.

The decree, which will be valid until Dec. 31, will let the government waive fiscal targets this year. It established a congressional commission of congressmen who will monitor the measures taken by the government to deal with the coronavirus.

After it passed the lower house on Wednesday, the Senate quickly voted and approved it on Friday in the agency's first remote vote using an online system and smart phones, under social distancing procedures adopted after two of them tested positive for the COVID-19 in the past days.

COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan, China last December, and has spread to at least 164 countries and territories.

The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a pandemic. Out of more than 266,000 confirmed cases, the death toll now exceeds 11,000, and over 87,000 have recovered, according to data compiled by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

Despite the rising number of cases, most who become infected suffer only mild symptoms and recover.