An epidemic? What epidemic? Again this weekend, young people were drinking beers, carefree and without mask, along the beaches of Rio de Janeiro. However, the Brazil and its 210 million residents are on red alert. Or should be. Because the Latin American giant is since Monday, the third most contaminated country on the planet, with more than 271,000 people tested positive at coronavirus. Tuesday evening, the Ministry of Health counted for the first time more than a thousand dead (1,179) of Covid-19 in 24 hours.
The mayor of Sao Paulo, Bruno Covas, rings the tocsin. The health system is on the verge of collapse
, he warned. In Brazil’s largest city, 76% of hospital beds are occupied, rising to 91% in intensive care. As the country approaches 18,000 deaths due to Covid-19, no one is hacking any more on the forecasts. It’s like we’re climbing a mountain you don’t see the top of
, complained a few days ago Domingo Alves, of the faculty of medicine of the University of Sao Paulo. According to some scientists, the number of actual cases of Covid-19 is up to fifteen times higher than the official data.
Brazil plunges back into political crisis
Most of the twenty-seven state governors decreed measures of social distancing very early on. But their message is undermined by the President Jair Bolsonaro. The far-right leader first called the Covid-19 grippette
. He ostensibly supports the anti-containment demonstrators and urges the closed businesses to reopen: Many people have died. But many more people will die if these measures remain in place.
, he hammers. He thus authorized the reopening of hairdressing salons, and challenged the governors to challenge his decision in court.
On May 15, Health Minister Nelson Teich resigned, less than a month after his predecessor Luiz Henrique Mandetta was dismissed, who he claims O Globo privately feared 150,000 dead. Both opposed the President who, like Donald Trump, claims to be fighting Covid-19 with hydroxychloroquine. Tuesday, Bolsonaro announced the generalization of this antimalarial, whose benefits are not proven, but which can cause heart problems. I have a box for my mother, 93, just in case
, he said bravely.
This attitude plunges Brazil back into the political crisis. More than thirty requests for dismissal, coming from the pro-Lula left as well as from the conservative right, were presented to the Chamber of Deputies.
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