Brazil judge orders Bolsonaro to wear a mask

A Brazilian judge has ordered President Jair Bolsonaro to wear a mask in public after the right-wing populist attended political rallies without one in the middle of the world’s second-worst coronavirus outbreak.

Federal Judge Renato Borelli ruled in a decision made public on Tuesday that Bolsonaro was subject to a fine of 2,000 reals (RM1,640) a day if he continued to disobey a local ordinance in the federal district meant to slow the pandemic.

Brazil’s solicitor general, which argues the government’s legal interests, said it was studying ways to reverse the decision.

Brazil has more confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths than anywhere outside the United States.

On Tuesday, Brazil registered 1,374 more deaths from the virus and 39,436 new cases in the past 24 hours, said the Health Ministry.

The coronavirus has killed more than 52,000 people in Brazil and infected more than 1.1 million.

That has made Brazil a prime location for vaccine trials, which began over the weekend for a candidate developed by Oxford University.

Brazil’s interim health minister said on Tuesday that the government would likely sign a deal this week to produce the university’s trial vaccine locally.

Bolsonaro has openly defied the consensus among public health experts for slowing the outbreak.

He has criticised social distancing orders issued by governors and mayors, saying their economic damage is worse than the virus.

Echoing US President Donald Trump, Bolsonaro has also pushed unproven anti-malarial drugs to treat the coronavirus.

But his most visible defiance has been going maskless at a string of demonstrations in Brasilia, holding babies for photos and shaking hands with supporters.