Thousands cram onto Rio beaches despite Brazil’s daily death toll hitting 820.

As many Brazilians grow weary of social distancing and quarantine measures, Rio de Janeiro’s Ipanema beach was swamped with sunbathers over the weekend, few of whom were wearing masks. With tentative signs the country’s coronavirus outbreak is easing, people are increasingly relaxing precautions and flooding beauty spots as if the pandemic were over. They are being urged ignore health experts’ recommendations by President Jair Bolsonaro, who has resisted many lockdown measures and pressed for a return to normal life from the beginning, famously dismissing Covid-19 as a ‘little flu’. But Brazil is still the second hardest hit country in the world after the US, with more than 4.1 million confirmed cases, 127,000 fatalities, and an average daily death toll of 820.