With cases rising rapidly, a military general with no medical experience leading the Ministry of Health, and a president admitting there’s no proof his preferred treatment will work, Brazil has become one of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus.
With cases rising rapidly, a military general with no medical experience leading the Ministry of Health, and a president admitting there’s no proof his preferred treatment will work, Brazil has become one of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus.
As health systems, from Sao Paulo to the Amazon, strain under the growing number of cases, policy experts say there’s little hope that the country can change course when the president is one of their biggest obstacles.
“It’s unbelievable what’s happening in Brazil. When the biggest science denier in the country is the president himself, what can we scientists do?” said Natalia Pasternak, a microbiologist and researcher at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Sao Paulo.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been among the world leaders most dismissive of the coronavirus, initially downplaying it as a “little flu,” then later responding “so what” when asked about the country’s rising death toll.
His own Ministry of Health had opposed him, promoting physical distancing and quarantines, but Bolsonaro fired popular Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta in April, and then forced his replacement Nelson Teich to resign last week. Both were trained doctors.
“I don’t see any hope in the short term,” Pasternak said. “I think the numbers are going to keep piling up and a lot of people are going to die until we solve the political situation.”
‘A grave situation’
The World Health Organization (WHO) now considers South America the new epicentre of the pandemic, in large part because this week Brazil overtook the United Kingdom for third place in the overall number of COVID-19 cases.
Brazil has more than 310,000 cases and more than 20,000 deaths, according to statistics kept by Johns Hopkins University. The country’s Ministry of Health believes the numbers are likely higher because of a lack of effective testing.
WATCH | Bolsonaro minimizes COVID-19 surge in Brazil, promotes hydroxychloroquine:
The number of coronavirus cases is surging in Brazil, but President Jair Bolsonaro continues to minimize the situation. Bolsonaro is also advocating the use of hydroxychloroquine, an unproven treatment also promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump. 2:01
“Are people dying? Yes they are, and I regret that. But many more are going to die if the economy continues to be destroyed because of these (lockdowns),” Bolsonaro said earlier this month.
On Thursday, Brazil reported more than 18,500 infections, while also suffering a record 1,188 daily coronavirus deaths, eclipsing its previous high set earlier in the week.
“It’s a very grave situation,” said Humberto Costa, a Brazilian senator and former health minister under former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
In Sao Paulo, the country’s largest city, fresh graves continue to be dug up in the sprawling Formosa cemetery. Health officials say they’re losing the battle against the virus and the system will be overrun. City and state officials moved holidays up from June and July to this weekend to create an extended break to encourage physical distancing.
In Manaus, the largest city in the Amazon rainforest, the