Bolsonaro urges Brazilians back to work, dismisses coronavirus ‘hysteria’

SAO PAULO/BRASILIA,

(Reuters) - As Brazil’s largest city went into lockdown, President Jair Bolsonaro yesterday took aim at the “hysteria” over the coronavirus and urged that life must continue and jobs be preserved.

In an address to the nation, Bolsonaro urged mayors and state governors to roll back lockdown measures that have brought Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo to near standstills.

“We must return to normality,” he said. “The few states and city halls should abandon their scorched-earth policies.”

Bolsonaro has faced increasing criticism for his cavalier attitude toward the virus, which he has dismissed as a “fantasy” and a “small flu” despite its infecting over 300,000 people worldwide and killing tens of thousands.

During his address Tuesday night, people banged pots and pans in a traditional form of protest in Sao Paulo and Brasilia. Opinion polls have shown Bolsonaro’s popularity slipping.

He said the terrible situation in Italy would not be repeated in Brazil because of the Latin American country’s younger population and warmer climate.

Italy has had more people die of the coronavirus than any other country, with the death toll rising to 6,820 on Tuesday.

Most people, including himself, had nothing to fear, Bolsonaro said.

“In my particular case, with my history as an athlete, if I were infected with the virus, I would have no reason to worry, I would feel nothing, or it would be at most just a little flu,” he said.

Coronavirus deaths in Brazil on Tuesday rose to 46 from 34, and the number of cases rose to 2,201 from 1,891, according to government figures. Wanderson de Oliveira, a Health Ministry official, told reporters Brazil would vastly expand testing in the coming days.

Economic prospects for Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy, are worsening amid the pandemic. Data showed consumer confidence fell to a three-year low in March, and retail sales in January declined at the fastest rate in over a year, indicating consumer spending was off to a weak start in 2020, even before the coronavirus outbreak.

Two of Brazil’s top airlines said they would cut more than 90% of their domestic flights until at least May.

The slowdown is set to worsen as Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, began a two-week lockdown on Tuesday. The state government ordered all non-essential services and businesses to close.