Coronavirus cannot harm me, boasts Bolsonaro
BRAZIL’S far-right president has claimed that “as an athlete” he would have nothing to worry about were he to contract the coronavirus, as he pushed back against lockdown measures.
In an address to the nation on Tuesday, Jair Bolsonaro called for a return to work and school, despite the Covid-19 crisis facing his country.
Citing his past as an athlete, Mr Bolsonaro, who turned 65 at the weekend, said he would be unaffected by the coronavirus. “In the worst case,” he said, “I would have a little cold”.
He said state governments in Brazil should abandon their “scorched earth” policies of isolation and “return to normality”. He said: “The risk group is people over 60, so why are we closing schools?” Lessons were suspended in all of Brazil’s 27 states, along with varying degrees of lockdown measures. São Paulo, Brazil’s most populous state and the country’s financial centre, has closed all non-essential businesses and is restricting the movement of citizens.
In Rio de Janeiro, the city’s beaches were closed and commerce forced to shut for the foreseeable future.
Many of Brazil’s state governors are political opponents of Mr Bolsonaro, who sees them as undermining his authority by imposing local lockdowns.
In a video conference with the president and governors yesterday, João Doria, São Paulo’s governor, traded insults with Mr Bolsonaro and threatened legal action. He said: “We have 40 deaths in our state. These aren’t fake deaths, Mr President. This is not just a ‘little flu’.”
Brazil has so far recorded 2,201 cases and 46 deaths, all but two occurring in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
Mr Bolsonaro said Brazil should adopt a different approach to the isolation being practised globally. He said all people aged 60 or over or with prior health complaints should stay at home while the rest went to work.
“Our lives must go on, jobs must be kept, families’ livelihoods must be preserved,” he said.
Reports suggest his approach will force Luiz Henrique Mandetta, his health minister, to resign in protest.
Mr Mandetta quickly became a key figure in Brazil’s cabinet, having followed the guidelines of the World Health Organisation and stressing the importance of self-isolation.
The president’s handling of the pandemic has been poorly received by his public. Every night since March 17, people at home have been banging pots and pans at their windows, calling for his impeachment.