Brazil may have more coronavirus cases than the U.S., study suggests

Brazil, not the United States, may have the most coronavirus cases in the world, a University of São Paolo study suggests, per The Wall Street Journal.

The study concluded that, through May 3, the number of infections since the pandemic began in Brazil could be as high as 1.6 million, more than the U.S.'s officially world-leading 1.1 million-plus cases. "Brazil is already the global epicenter of the coronavirus," said Dr. Domingo Alves from Ribeirão Preto Medical School, who worked on the study.

The research points to minimal testing in the country as the reason the recorded figures aren't nearly that high — Johns Hopkins University has Brazil's official cases count just under 102,000. But the most populous country in the Southern hemisphere has tested only about 1,600 per million people. The U.S., which many experts believe is not testing nearly enough, administers 20,200 per million, while some European countries are conducting 30,000.

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Of course, those countries are also likely missing cases, but the testing gap is significant, either way. Subsequently concerns are growing for the country, especially as its President Jair Bolsonaro remains a coronavirus skeptic. Read more at The Wall Street Journal.