Experts warn Brazil facing darkest days of Covid crisis as deaths hit highest level

Intensive care units in 17 of the country's 26 states were near capacity, while six states and the capital had run out of ICU beds

Health experts and lawmakers have warned Brazil is steaming into the darkest days of its coronavirus catastrophe, as fatalities soared to new heights and one prominent politician compared the crisis to an atomic bomb.

Politicians from across the spectrum voiced anger and exasperation at the deteriorating situation on Monday, after Brazil's weekly average of Covid deaths hit its highest level since the epidemic began last February and hospitals around the country reported being swamped.