Data shortfall impairs Brazil’s tracking of spreading virus

By DÉBORA ÁLVARES
Associated Press

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil is already one of the countries most devastated by COVID-19 and it’s struggling to keep track of new cases, deaths and hospitalizations. Health Ministry officials are still trying to recover from hacker attacks on its system early last month and researchers say the data it shows is still incomplete and often hard to access. The information shortage couldn’t come at a worse time: Cases of COVID-19 appear to be soaring at the same time that a particularly strong outbreak of influenza with symptoms similar to those of omicron has confused Brazilians.