Brazil’s health minister quits after a month on the job

SAO PAULO—Brazil’s health minister resigned on Friday after less than a month on the job in a sign of continuing upheaval in the country’s battle with the COVID-19 pandemic and President Jair Bolsonaro’s pressure for the nation to prioritize the economy over health-driven lockdowns.

Nelson Teich’s resignation was confirmed by the Health Ministry. The oncologist, a former health-care consultant, took the job on April 17 under pressure to align the ministry’s actions with the president’s view that the economy must not be destroyed by restrictions to control spread of the virus.

Officials say that more than 13,000 people have died of COVID-19 in Brazil, though some experts say the figure is significantly higher due to insufficient testing, and analysts say the peak of the crisis has yet to hit Latin America’s largest country.

Teich had to accept a greater presence of the military inside the Health Ministry. His number two, Gen. Eduardo Pazuello, who had no health experience until joining the ministry in April, will be the interim minister until Bolsonaro chooses a permanent replacement. Teich’s resignation comes one day after Bolsonaro told business leaders in a video conference he would ease rules for use of an anti-malaria drug to treat people infected with the coronavirus. The outgoing health minister has frequently called the use of chloroquine “an uncertainty” in the fight against the virus, and this week warned of its side effects.