Since the beginning of the pandemic, before it had even arrived in Brazil, president Jair Bolsonaro always minimised the situation. He stated the new COVID-19 was ‘just a little cold’. When it finally reached Brazil he said the pandemic was a ‘fantasy’, while also claiming the disease would not affect him ‘thanks to his athletic historic’.
Across the country, governors took their own decisions concerning their states. Some decided to go in lockdown, while others kept everything as if the virus was not going to reach them. Conflicts arose as the country is vast and authorities all had different opinions on the situation. Bolsonaro even fired Luiz Henrique Mendetta, Health Minister at the time, for disagreeing with the decisions he took and the statements he made. Even if they did not agree upon the different matters concerning the pandemic, a helping plan was established for people with low, inexistent or no stable revenue. After the application process was completed, they were to receive 2,400 BRL (380GBP/420EUR). It brought the people some hope after their president said at a press conference: ‘Who doesn’t want to work, can stay home. But those who stay home will starve’.
To help understanding: Brazil is a republic with 26 federate states, each with a governor and slight different laws, much like the organisation in the USA.
The press gave the pandemic a greater importance and broadcasted constantly information on the subject, including the number of deaths and contaminations every day. The data was received around 7 pm and thereafter broadcasted the same evening, but since Wednesday 3rd June, the government has been sending the information later at night, around 10 pm. The first time it was belated, an excuse message was joined explaining the delay was due to technical issues and that it was an exceptional circumstance, meaning it would not happen again. But only two days later, on Friday 5th June, the same happened, only this time, there was no excuse note. In fact, it is believed the Government acted like so to impeach journalists and TV channels from informing the population on an immediate level of the COVID situation in the country.
On Saturday 13th June, the death toll in Brazil was 41,901 and 829,902 confirmed cases across all 26 states, making Brazil the second most affected country in the world, right behind the United States. It has also become the new epicentre of the pandemic. Unfortunately, numbers keep rising, and the country registers an average of 1,200 deaths every 24 hours.
As cases keep increasing, the need to find a cure is more urgent than ever. Debates arose all across the world on the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat the disease.
Studies brought some hope it might be useful against infection. However, further trials proved it to be ineffective. Regardless of what specialists advised, Bolsonaro still promotes the use of the medicine, claiming it was working in Brazil and that they would continue using it.
Despite the lack of improvement on the COVID-19 situation, shops started reopening and other commercial sectors resumed after weeks of inactivity. Bolsonaro’s partisans were very pleased, as for them being in lockdown makes nonsense. However not all the population feels the same way. Here is what Marie Ilma do Nascimento, who lives in a town near Brasilia, had to say:
‘They have opened shops and malls but now everything is closing back again, these people do not know how to be reasonable and they don’t seem to care about others.’
And Felipe Neto, a famous Brazilian Youtuber, stated:
‘We are not staying home because of the virus, we are staying home because our medical system does not have the capability to hold all the patients if we don’t take precautions not to get infected, the system is overloaded.’
Nations are starting to reopen again, but the pandemic is far from being over. Specially in Brazil, where the fragile government is not providing the people with the reassurance and comfort they need.
Further reading:
- Coronavirus and hydroxychloroquine: What do we Know?: https://www.bbc.com/news/51980731
- Countries where COVID-19 has spread: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/countries-where-coronavirus-has-spread/
- The Brazilian tragedy: How and why Brazil became new COVID-19 epicentre: https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-06-15/How-and-why-Brazil-became-new-epicenter-of-COVID-19–RkZR5obL44/index.html
- Coronavirus: Brazil resumes publishing Covid-19 data after court ruling: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-52980642
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