Deaths outpace births in some Brazilian cities, as Covid-19 resurges
CNN
For the sixth month in a row, the city of Rio de Janeiro has seen more deaths than births -- a devastating indicator of the nation's unceasing Covid-19 crisis.
Brazil's second most populous city, Rio de Janeiro registered 36,437 deaths in March -- 16% more than the month's 32,060 new births, according to the national Civil Register. It wasn't alone; at least 10 other Brazilian cities with populations over half a million people also registered more deaths than births last month. Cities across the country have been hit hard by a recent surge in Covid-19 cases and deaths, fueled in part by new variants believed to be extra contagious, as well as some Brazilians' disregard for social distancing precautions. The grim ratio of deaths to births is one more lens onto a national crisis that federal and local officials have largely failed to contain more than a year into the pandemic.
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